Fluff Forevermore
by Adara-chan67
Summary: Sequel to Requited Fluff. Rated PG for some mentions of rape. Twoseries crossover. Let me know if I should up the rating. I suck at summaries, so you'll have to read to find out what happens. COMPLETE!
1. A Strange New World

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in this story AT ALL, except for Kou, whom I'm not sure will even show up. That includes the characters of Yu Yu Hakusho and the characters of the Harry Potter series. I do, however, own the plot, and if I can't plagiarize off J.K. Rowling and Yoshiro Togashi, then no one can plagiarize off me, and that's final._

_Characters: Hiei, Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara, with guest appearances by Yukina, Harry Potter and friends, and also Lord Voldything._

_Setting: Any time after the Dark Tournament, but before Sensui._

_Warning: Implications of rape and other evil things._

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_Author's Note: Hey, people! I'm back again, with the final installment in the Fluff mini-series! I hope you all enjoy this one as well, and read the rest of my stories, too! So…on with it, ne?_

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Chapter 1

"This is _not_ the way I had envisioned the weekend going," Hiei grumbled, staring at the high brick wall in front of him.

Kurama shrugged with one shoulder and reached out to tap one of the bricks with his finger. "I know, but…"

"It has to be done. I know. You've reminded me twelve times," Hiei muttered. "And no one wants to get those guys as much as I do. But why do we have to live so far from Japan in order to _do_ that?" He turned around and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and looking miserable.

"Why, Hiei, I do believe you're _missing_ home," Kurama teased him.

"The only thing I would ever _miss_ is your house, fox," Hiei muttered darkly. "Nothing else in the Ningenkai is even worth commenting on."

Kurama smiled. "Whatever you say, love."

Hiei was saved from replying by Yusuke and Kuwabara, who chose that moment to come out to the little yard he and Kurama were standing in.

"Hey, guys," Yusuke said. "You really should try the beer in there. Great stuff."

Kuwabara looked around. "Hey, weren't we supposed to meet this guy at a big white building?"

Kurama nodded.

"Then…where's the building?"

"Koenma mentioned that it might seem strange, but we should look in the trash can, and tap the brick three up and two over above the trash can with whatever we fine there," Kurama said, taking the lid off the metal trash can, the only thing that decorated the abandoned yard.

"What kind of an order is _that_?" Hiei asked. "How are we going to break a solid wall with _garbage_?"

Kurama pulled a wooden stick out of the can and stared at it. "Well, this is the only thing in there."

Yusuke snorted. "Koenma's putting us on."

Looking just as skeptical, Kurama counted bricks and touched one with the stick.

Yusuke gave a yelp and jumped back, and Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei stared. The wall was _moving_. A hole had formed where the brick Kurama had touched used to be, and it was growing rapidly. In a moment, the hole had turned into a huge archway.

All four of them stepped through it and looked around, both curious and bewildered.

They were standing on a cobblestone street that twisted and turned out of sight. The street was lined on either side with shops and crowded with hundreds of strangely-dressed people going about their business. None of them seemed to notice the four foreigners in their midst.

"What _is_ this place?" Kuwabara asked, voicing the question for all of them.

"What are those people _wearing_?" Yusuke asked.

"We can ask those questions to whoever it is we're meeting," Kurama pointed out. "I think we're supposed to be going to that building." He gestured to the huge snow-white structure at the end of the street that towered over all the other little shops.

"Kurama, are you nervous?" Hiei asked quietly as he, Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke began working their way down the crowded street, stopping from time to time to drag Kuwabara and Yusuke past certain shops, reminding them that there would be time for investigation later.

"About what?" Kurama asked, a little too breezily.

"The possibility of meeting that bastard face-to-face again."

Kurama grimaced. "Actually, I've been trying not to think about it, to tell you the truth."

"And how has _that_ worked out?"

"Fine."

He was obviously lying, but before Hiei could press the issue, the group reached the white building, and he forgot what he was going to say when he set eyes on the bizarre-looking creature waiting to open the door for them. He was short and thin and clever-looking, with abnormally long fingers that looked as if they could easily strangle anyone who walked by.

The…thing leered at them and swung the door open, bowing rather mockingly at them as they passed.

The inside of the place was even bigger than it looked on the outside. Doors lined the walls, and more of the creatures were moving in and out of them, accompanied by more oddly-dressed humans. Behind a long counter sat hundreds more of the things.

"What the hell have we walked into?" Hiei asked, shifting his hand subtly to his sword hilt.

"Why, Gringott's Wizarding Bank in Diagon Alley, of course!"

Hiei stifled an outcry and whirled around, gripping his blade tightly.

The speaker turned out to be a tall, slender, old man, wearing a long purple robe and buckled black boots. He had very long, very white hair and a longer white beard, and he wore gold-rimmed glassed. Though he spoke Japanese quite fluently, he looked to be English.

After staring at him for a moment, Hiei asked, "Does _anyone_ here wear normal clothes?"

"Hiei!" Kurama scolded. "I'm sorry, sir. He is very blunt."

"It's quite all right," the man said, smiling. "He's Hiei Jaganshi, and your name, I believe, is Yoko Kurama. And your companions are Yusuke Urameshi and Kazuma Kuwabara, am I correct?"

"Right. Koenma contacted you, then?" Kurama asked.

_+Flashback+ _

"_His name is Lord Voldemort," Koenma said, shuffling the papers on his desk. "Apparently, he's very famous—and feared—in his world. According to my sources, he plans to…"_

"_Rule the world," Yusuke finished. _

"_How'd you know that?" Koenma asked in surprise. _

"_I didn't, but that's always the story."_

"_Hm. Okay. Well, anyway, Yusuke's right. This Voldemort character wants to rule all the worlds. And to do that, he'll need help, more than he'll get from his human supporters. So he's turned to…"_

"_The youkai," Hiei finished quietly. _

"_Exactly. Voldemort has been recruiting youkai for about three years now. He has convinced all of the D and C-class youkai, most of the B-class, and now he has turned to the A-class."_

"_And how many of _them_ has he persuaded to join him?" Kuwabara asked. _

"_Most that we know of," Koenma said grimly. "He has promised them riches beyond their dreams, but also, if he wins, he can give them complete freedom. They could come to the Ningenkai without fear of capture. They know this, and so they have united with him."_

"_Damn…" Hiei said. "He's raising a demon army."_

"_There is _some_ good news, though," Koenma said. "We do have _some_ on our side. Mukuro is going to send troops to fight the youkai on Voldemort's side, when she finds out where they are. And your friend Kou is trying to beat Voldemort to the S-class, and recruit them to our side instead. So we might be able to take the advantage, but I need my Reikai Tentei now. You four are very possibly the best of the best in the Reikai, and I need your help." _

"_What do we have to do?" Kurama asked. _

"_According to my sources, Voldemort's first goal is to kill one certain boy. He is seventeen years old, your age, Yusuke and Kuwabara, and he is the reason that Voldemort had to wait so long to advance in his plans. If you stay close to this boy, you will undoubtedly get a crack at Voldemort soon enough. So, I'm sending you to the boy's school, Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will masquerade as wizards from Japan, transferring to the school for a while to learn about foreign Wizarding schools."_

"_Wait…_wizards?" _Kuwabara asked._

"_Yes. I know, it seems strange, and it will stay that way for a while, but I don't know enough about that world to give you more information. You'll have to rely on your contact for that. And I'm sorry if you get confused, but…I need you to stick with it, all right?"_

"_We'll do it," Hiei said vehemently. "We'll _kill_ that bastard for messing with Kurama."_

"_Glad to hear it. But you have to realize that this is about more than Kurama now. This is about the safety of all the worlds."_

_+End flashback+_

"Yes, yes, he did," the old man said in answer to Kurama's question. "I'm so sorry that a man from our world caused you so much pain. How is the arm?" He glanced at the sling that bound Kurama's left arm.

"Better," Kurama said, looking a bit surprised.

"The school nurse will be able to fix it when we get there. My name is Professor Dumbledore, by the way."

"So where do we go now?" Yusuke asked. "This place looks so _cool_!"

Dumbledore chuckled. "I have money for you here," he said, handing them each a money pouch. "Gold coins are Galleons, silver ones are sickles, and the bronze ones are Knuts. Here's a list for each of you of everything you'll need to buy and the shops you can find them at. Shop, explore, do as you wish. I'll wait for you back at the bar you went through to get here, and we will talk more when you join me." He touched a hand to his forehead in a teasing salute and walked away, leaving the four of them alone.

"Cool!" Yusuke said. "I'm gonna go look around!"

"Me too!" Kuwabara said, running after him.

"Meet us at the bar in two hours!" Kurama called after them as they disappeared into the crowd. He turned to Hiei as they vanished. "So, where should we go first?"

Hiei sighed and pulled out the paper Dumbledore had given each of them. "This thing is _long_!' He looked at the first line. "It says that we should get robes at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions."

For the next hour and a half, Hiei and Kurama moved from store to store, collecting everything on their list. They were fitted for the odd robes first, and then they asked for the books on the list at a store called Flourish and Blotts. They bought quills, ink, cauldrons, and everything else they needed at stores with names like Magical Bits-and-Bobs, with Hiei wondering aloud all the while why they would need all this crap.

They were on the way back to the bar to meet the others when Kurama caught sight of Eeylop's Owl Emporium. "Oh, Hiei look!" he said. "I wonder why they're selling owls?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling you're going to find out," Hiei muttered.

"Yep," Kurama agreed. "Come on!"

The inside of the little building was dim and quiet. The beady eyes of a hundred owls glared at the newcomers from all directions, and every once in a while, a soft hoot could be heard.

"Excuse me," Kurama said to the man behind the small, rickety desk by the wall. "Could you tell me why you're selling these owls?"

"Um…I'm sorry, sir, but I…" the man said, in English, a language Hiei knew little of, though he got the general gist of the sentence by picking out the couple of words he did know.

Kurama, who had learned English in school, answered instead. "My apologies, sir. My name is Kurama, and that is Hiei. We are from Japan, and I am afraid that we do not understand the customs here. Why are you selling these owls?"

The man looked puzzled, but he said, "Why, they carry mail, of course!"

"They…"

"Carry mail, yes. Even without an address, a Wizarding owl can find anyone, anywhere. I highly recommend buying one, especially since you're so far from home."

"Kurama…" Hiei said warningly.

His half-formed protest proved futile. He and Kurama walked out of Eeylop's with a third addition to their party—a snowy owl that Kurama named Sora.

"_Why_ did you get that thing?" Hiei asked as they made their way back down the street.

"Because I did promise to write to Mother when I told her where we are going, and I love birds. So, it seemed logical."

"Okay…maybe I'll send one to Yukina…"

"You miss her, ne?"

Hiei sighed. "Yes. She's been in the ice world for three months now. We haven't been apart for this long since she found out I was her brother." He shook his head. "I'm just being sentimental. Let's go meet everyone."

Kurama and Hiei found Dumbledore waiting at the table with what looked to be a glass of soda in front of him. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting with him.

"About time," Yusuke said as they sat down.

"What's _that_?" Kuwabara asked as Kurama sat Sora's cage on the table.

"Oh, you've bought an owl!" Dumbledore said, sounding quite delighted. "Wonderful creatures, those…quite useful. I remember when I had an owl…but perhaps this is not the right time for that…" He clapped his hands together once and called, "Tom, may we have a private parlor, please?"

A short, stooped man walked over to them and bowed. "If you'll come with me, sirs…"

Dumbledore stood and motioned for Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei to do the same. The little man—Tom—led them to an empty room down the hall from the bar. A fire blazed in the hearth, illuminating the armchairs set around a wooden table.

"Tea?" Tom asked.

"Please. And you four must be hungry…a plate of sandwiches with those, too, I think, Tom."

Tom bowed again and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Come, sit, sit," Dumbledore said, waving them toward the chairs. "I'm sure there is a lot you would like to know." He sat in one of the armchairs, folded his hands in front of him, and studied the four for a long time. Finally, when Yusuke had begun to fidget uncomfortably, he spoke. "You are very strong. Physically and spiritually. You may be the answer to our prayers."

* * *

**Reviewer's comments**:

**darkspirals**: Thankies for the review! And reading fanfics is about _all_ I do anymore, when I'm not reading or writing. It's sad, really…oh well. Gives me more time to update for you guys! Not that I do that too often, but…I try! I really do! So…review this story, too, all right? PLEASE!

**IceDragonKatana**: Okay, first of all, let me just say how sorry I am about your father. I know I should be spitting out some cliché thing like "As long as you keep your memories, you'll be fine" or something like that, but the truth is, I can't, because I know how awful it feels to have someone say that to you like everything is just hunky-dory. But I _will_ say that, unlike the many people who have probably told you, I _do_ understand how you feel, because I lost my dad when I was three. And I know you probably don't want to hear _that_ sob story, so out of respect for you, I will shut up as soon as I say that if you ever want to talk, feel free to drop me an e-mail at And now, moving on…thanks so much for your review! It really touches me that you still go to the trouble of reading and reviewing even with what you're going through right now. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story just as much, but if you don't feel up to reading, don't feel like you have to read it as soon as it comes up.

**MikaSamu**: Sorry, only one more fic in this mini-series! I'm trying to come up with a plot for another shounen, but according to my sister, I'm a no-talent hack who can't come up with her own plots, even though I _did_ make up this whole series, so it's not coming along so well. Hey, if you have an idea for a Hiei/Kurama shounen story for me, send it in a review, would ya? If you don't wanna write it yourself, that is. I'd give you all the credit for the plot and I'd really appreciate it! And thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy this one too!

**FireChibi**: Thanks for the review! And I hope you continue to "break the pattern" for me and review this chapter, and the next one, and the next and the next and the next…okay, shutting up now…

**Jessica**: Thanks for the review! I would say more but you didn't really give me much to go on…LOL.

**YokoYoukai**: NO! PLEASE DON'T! DON'T KILL ME OR I CAN'T WRITE ANYMORE! **wails** PLEASE! **looks nervously at you** Why are you looking at me like that? With…with the red eyes and the fangs and the…HELP ME! **runs away screaming and calls over shoulder** THANKS FOR THE REVIEW! PLEASE PLEASE _PLEASE_ DON'T EAT ME!


	2. Discussions

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except the plot and Kou, if he ever shows. That is all._

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Chapter 2

Before anyone could say anything, Tom bustled back in, carrying a large silver tray holding a pot of tea, cups, and a plate of sandwiches. He set them on the table and left, silently.

Yusuke turned on Dumbledore as soon as the door closed. "What do you mean, 'answer to your prayers'?" He asked. "The reason we're here is to go after that guy Voldemort. We don't have _time_ to be the answer to anyone's prayers!"

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle. "No, no, you misunderstand me. You may be the answer to the prayers of the entire Wizarding world, for precisely the reason that you are here."

"Oh…well…isn't that a little strong anyway? I mean, I know he's feared here, but…couldn't he be defeated by a group of your guys?"

"I gather that Koenma gave you the short version of the story, then," Dumbledore asked.

"Actually, he didn't give us any story at all," Kuwabara said. "He just said that Voldemort is feared by the people here. He didn't tell us anything else about him."

"Ah. Well, that explains your words, then. When you suggested that just any one group could defeat Lord Voldemort, I knew that you did not know of his true power."

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, suddenly looking quite old, and tired.

"Voldemort is said to be the most evil wizard of our time, and the most powerful. He has killed many in his time, and destroyed the lives of many he left behind. He is terrible enough that the people of this world avoid saying his _name_, out of fear of his ability to kill without a thought. He never shows anyone mercy, even his own followers. He does not forgive mistakes unless it could benefit him. If he learned that you were after him…I was, to tell you the truth, concerned when I first saw you four. I was concerned that you wouldn't be able to survive being caught in his path. Why, none of you look to be older than eighteen! But…your eyes say differently. You have all seen much in your lives, whether they be short or long. Sorrow, pain, agony, betrayal…none of these are foreign emotions to any of you, and your lives have been endangered before now. I trust that you can handle this. But I still feel that I must impress upon you the gravity of your situation. You must realize that you could very possibly be killed before you reach your target. Are you still willing?"

"Koenma told you everything when he contacted you," Hiei said. It wasn't a question, but his tone made it clear that he expected a reply of some sort.

"Yes…not the details of the imprisonment, because he said only you two are privy to that information, but he told me everything he knew," Dumbledore answered.

"Then you should know that _I_, at least, will do whatever it takes to bring this bastard down. I have faced death every day of my life since infancy, and I will do so now, without fear or regret. And whatever doubts you have, I _will_ prevail. You do not _ever_ have to question my will to fight." He glared at Dumbledore, as if daring him to raise a challenge.

But instead, Dumbledore smiled as if that had been exactly the answer he had been waiting for, and simply said, "Pass the teapot, if you please."

"Now it's _your_ turn to answer _our_ questions," Yusuke said firmly, grabbing a sandwich and taking a bite.

"All right, then, shoot," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"First of all, what the hell is this world we've walked into?" Hiei demanded. "It's definitely not the Makai or the Reikai. It _looks_ like a warped version of the Ningenkai, but the people here have weird ki signatures, not quite reiki, youki, _or_ ningenki. Care to explain?"

"By ki, you mean the type of energy that radiates from everyone here, yes?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Right."

"The kind of energy you sense is _wizard's_ energy, Hiei, and you are correct in assuming that it isn't quite reiki, youki or ningenki, but rather a mix of all three. Yes, I know about each of those kinds of energy."

"How?" Kuwabara asked.

"Because I am the only remaining wizard that I know of who believes that the other two worlds exist, and so I spent much time researching the matter, trying to prove my theory."

"What are you _talking_ about?" Yusuke asked.

"Despite the beliefs of the Muggles—people without magical blood—we wizards know about the existence of demons. But now, after all traces of demonkind have disappeared from our sight, it is widely believed that Voldemort extinguished all of them."

"Well, you won't need to search for proof for long," Hiei said grimly. "Now that Voldemort has allied himself with the demons…"

"_What_?" Dumbledore exclaimed, nearly dropping his sandwich in his shock.

Hiei looked surprised. "Didn't Koenma tell you? Voldemort has recruited more of Makai to his side."

Dumbledore looked tempted to utter an oath, but he mastered himself and said, "This does complicate things. How strong are his forces?"

Hiei shrugged. "I'm not completely sure, but I do know that he has the D, C, and B-classes, and is now working on the A and S-class. Now, the D and C-classes aren't real cause for concern, and the B-class can be fought, but if the A and S-classes joined forces, they could kill us if we allow it. There _is_ good news, though."

"And that is…"

"We already got in touch some friends of ours in Makai—friends with connections—and we have an army moving in to fight Voldemort's side even now. It's a small army, but I promise you, their leader can get the job done, if anyone can. They can take care of at least the D and C-classes, and probably the B-class as well." Hiei sighed. "Unfortunately, there is no way to talk to Mukuro, unless it's in person. We have to wait for her to contact us. Until then, we should try to get our own forces together, to take over when—_if_—Mukuro is no longer able."

Hiei's throat tightened as he spoke, and he realized how concerned he was for Mukuro's safety. Though things hadn't been quite the same between them since Hiei had quit as her heir, Mukuro had been a good ally and an even better friend, and Hiei hated to think of her dying.

He forced his mind onto a different course, and continued. "Also, another friend, Kou, is working on getting some of the S-class on our side before Voldemort gets to them. So we can have some hope of gaining an advantage. It's a slim hope, but at least it's there."

"My, your people _do_ move quickly!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

"Well, when the guy in charge feels his territory invaded, he tends to feel threatened," Yusuke said, smirking.

"And his territory is being threatened now," Dumbledore commented.

"Yes. He's in charge of the safety of all the worlds, and _Voldemort_ wants to be the big boss. Koenma isn't happy."

Dumbledore smiled. "Understandable."

"What I don't understand," Kuwabara cut in, "is why Koenma never knew about _this_ world."

"Oh, but he did," Dumbledore said, sounding mildly surprised. "How else could he have known how to contact me?"

"WHAT!" Yusuke exploded. "He _knew_? And he never _told_ us?"

"Did he not?" Dumbledore asked. "How odd…well, I'm sure there must be an explanation…" He shook his head as if he couldn't understand what that explanation could possibly be, and then changed the subject. "So, what else would you like to know about our world?"

"A lot," Kuwabara said. "Like, what was that stick thing we used to get through the wall?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "That was a wand. It's what we use to channel _our_ version of ki. Unlike you, we can't just make it come out of our hands."

"Then won't it look suspicious if none of us have one?" Yusuke asked.

"I've already thought up a cover story," Dumbledore said. "You four go to a school for mages in Japan. _Mages_ don't use wands. Instead, you know how to work magic with your hands. It may not work for long, since none of you know how to use the kind of magic we use, but the beauty of the situation is that it doesn't _have_ to work for any longer than a few months."

"Why not?" Hiei asked.

Dumbledore turned to look at him. "Did Koenma tell you _why_ you are going to Hogwart's, instead of just any other place?"

"Not really," Yusuke said. "He just told us that we're supposed to stay close to one boy, and if we do, Voldemort will just…come to us. Which I don't get at all, by the way."

"The boy you are talking about is Harry Potter. He is the one who halted Voldemort's rise in power for a time, for fourteen years, in fact. Though he did this unintentionally, Voldemort still lays that blame on him. And so he has vowed to kill Harry. And he is now ready to make his move. He will come to the school to kill him by the end of the term. And so it is inevitable that you should encounter him."

"And this boy…Harry…does _he_ know the truth about us?" Kuwabara asked. "Because if not, that could be very awkward."

"Yes, he knows, and so do his two closest friends, Hermione and Ron. The teachers know as well, of course. But to everyone else, your identities are a complete secret."

"Could you tell us more about the school and what we'll be doing there?" Hiei asked.

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore said. "First of all, you'll be enrolled as seventh-year students—the equivalent of senior year in high school, I believe. You will be sleeping in the seventh year boys' dormitory. You will be starting in the middle of the term, and I have assigned you to Gryffindor House with Harry. You will also be attending classes, as I said, with the rest of the house. You can learn details from Harry, Ron and Hermione. _They_ can take you around the school and tell you more. Now, if you have no other questions, I have taken the liberty of renting you rooms, and you must be tired after your journey, so shall Tom show you to your rooms?"

Yusuke was the first to get up, concluding the discussions. Kuwabara followed him, and then Kurama. Hiei watched Kurama walk to the door, with a look on his face that Dumbledore couldn't place. Then, before he could figure out what it meant, Hiei stood and followed the group out the door.

XXX

"Kurama, what's the matter?" Hiei asked, lying in Hiei and Kurama's bed that night.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Kurama replied.

"You didn't say a word the whole time we talked with Dumbledore, and you've looked preoccupied all day."

Kurama sighed and said. "I'm fine, Hiei. I'm just…nervous, I guess. You were right. I…I don't want to face him again."

"But I'll…" Hiei began. Kurama cut him off.

"Yes, yes, I know, you'll _protect_ me. Just like last time."

Hiei literally leaned away from Kurama's harsh words. Then, slowly, his arm, which had been around Kurama's waist, was removed from its position, and Hiei slid out of the bed. As he moved away, he felt Kurama's regret, but the kitsune said nothing as Hiei crossed the room and climbed up on the windowsill, leaning against the wall, blinking rather a lot.

An uneasy silence fell, broken by nothing except the soft breathing of the two in the room. After almost half an hour, Hiei said quietly, "He raped you, didn't he?"

Only silence greeted his words, but he knew that Kurama, like him, was still lying awake.

* * *

_Author's Note: There we go! Another chapter! I'm sorry it took so long, but see, I can barely type OR write at the moment because my right thumb has something wrong with it…muscle bruise or something…and I can hardly get it around the pencil, so I'd prefer to write and type as little as possible until it gets better. I will try, though, I promise! So…RR, people! Come on, you've already done the first half…_

* * *

**Reviewers' comments**:

**YokoYoukai**: I'm not offended, I promise…well, okay, so that's not completely true…I'm a bit put out that you want to KILL me…but other than that…I do know where you're coming from. I wasn't sure about making this a crossover either, and personally I think I'm not doing very well. But hey, the ball's rolling now, so what can I do? looks at the newly-found eating utensils in your hand Now it's clear what I should do…RUN!

**darkspirals**: I reply the same way I replied to Yoko: I wasn't sure about writing a crossover, either, but now that I've started, there's really nothing I can do…so anyway, thanks for the review!

**StormAZ**: I don't mind that it was short. It was a REVIEW! YIPPEE! Thanks!


	3. Introductions

_DISCLAIMER: If I was rich enough to buy the characters of Yu Yu, do you really think my top priority would be posting fanfics? Then again…that's entirely possible…_

* * *

Chapter 3

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama woke up at dawn, when Tom the innkeeper came into each of their rooms and told them that Dumbledore was waiting for them in the dining room.

Hiei left the room before Kurama even got out of bed, without looking once at the kitsune or saying a word.

Kurama sighed as he got up. Hiei was angry with him, then. Well, the hiyoukai had all the right to be. Kurama had come down far too hard on him the night before, and he knew it. He had berated himself over it for the better part of the sleepless night. He had said the one thing he knew had been tormenting Hiei for weeks. And the worst part was that he'd _wanted_ to hurt his lover. Wanted him to feel the shame and self-disgust that he himself felt whenever he thought back to that night, the feelings that had been haunting him.

But Hiei didn't deserve those feelings any more that he did! And it _hadn't_ been his fault—none of it had! Hiei deserved _happiness_!

And Kurama had yanked any hope of _that_ away with a simple sentence.

He was such an idiot.

Kurama sighed heavily as he pulled his shoes on. "This sucks."

XXX

"This sucks," Hiei muttered, looking gloomily out of the dining room window.

"What sucks?" Yusuke managed to mumble around a mouthful of food as he walked up behind the Jaganshi.

"Nothing," Hiei snapped. Yusuke shrugged and moved away, leaving Hiei to brood.

He hadn't thought Kurama felt that way about things. _He_ knew he was to blame, but Kurama had spent over three weeks telling him it wasn't his fault. So why the change?

He just couldn't forget how harsh Kurama's voice had been.

He didn't understand it.

_And how am I ever supposed to even _look_ at him again, when he's so miserable and it's _my_ fault_? he wondered.

Hiei's thoughts were interrupted when Kurama himself came into the room. He didn't turn as he listened to chairs scraping across the floor, and he continued to stare out the window until Dumbledore's voice said, "Hiei, would you care to join us for breakfast?"

Hiei didn't look at Kurama as he took a seat at the table. No one else seemed to notice, except for Dumbledore, who glanced at him, looking faintly puzzled, before he seemed to decide to leave the matter alone.

"So, we're leaving today?" Yusuke asked as he swallowed half a piece of toast.

"Yes, yes, we are," Dumbledore said.

"How are we getting there?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"We're going to take a Portkey," Dumbledore informed him.

"A _what_?" Kurama asked.

"A Portkey," Dumbledore repeated. "A teleportation device."

"Cool!" Yusuke said. "I wanna go!"

Dumbledore smiled. "Well, you need to finish breakfast first…"

"I'm done," Yusuke said quickly, pushing his plate away.

"Then go pack up everything you brought yesterday. There are trunks in your rooms." Dumbledore shook his head, smiling, as Yusuke bolted from the table.

Hiei, who had just been picking at his food, muttered, "I'm finished, too," and escaped the table, not noticing the upset look Kurama gave him.

Kurama found Hiei in their room when he finally left the table almost half an hour later. He was blurring around the room, gathering things up and throwing them into the open trunk at the end of the bed.

"Hiei?" Kurama asked tentatively.

He was answered by the slamming of a trunk lid. "Don't worry, I'm leaving," Hiei said, lifting the trunk with a grunt. He carried it past Kurama without meeting his eyes.

"Hiei…"

"It's all right, Kurama. I know how you feel now, so please, don't try to apologize and say you didn't mean it." He didn't sound angry, merely resigned.

As Hiei left the room, Kurama said in a small, pained voice, "But I am, and I didn't…"

Out in the hall, Hiei paused, then walked on as if he hadn't heard anything at all.

XXX

"What's _that_?" Yusuke asked, looking at the old, dirty, misshapen shoe that Dumbledore held in his hand.

"Our Portkey," Dumbledore answered simply. "Come, you four, bring your trunks and gather 'round."

"How is _that_ thing gonna take us to…wherever we're going?" Kuwabara asked. "Isn't is better to just open a portal?"

"Scotland."

"What?"

"Scotland. We're going to Scotland." (AN: I _think_ that's where Hogwarts is…) "And wizards can't operate portals. Now, all of you have to touch both the shoe and your trunks for all of it to go, so grab one of the handles and touch the shoe—just a finger is fine—come, come, we have to go—make a little bit more room—good, good, that's fine—Kurama, where are your things? Ah, yes, Kuwabara's got them—three, two, one…"

Suddenly, all of them felt a strange jerk, and then the world blurred. Hiei gave a yelp that no one heard, trying to remove his finger from the old shoe, but it was stuck. He held fast to his trunk handle, as Dumbledore had said to.

Then they all hit the ground with a jarring impact, though, surprisingly, none of them fell.

Hiei was the first to gather his wits to look around, and he barely managed to keep his mouth from dropping open.

They were standing in a large, foyer-type place. The ceiling was too high to make out. Directly in front of them, a huge staircase led up to the other floors. To the left was a set of tall, golden double doors, and on the right, a flight of stone steps led deep down into darkness.

"What the hell is this?" Hiei muttered. He had uttered that phrase or one like it far too much lately, but it was the only question that came to mind.

XXX

"It was in February of that year that a wizard named…" The transparent man speaking looked up when the door to the room creaked open.

"Professor Binns, I need Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Potter, if you please?" a stern-looking woman said.

The three she had named glanced at each other in barely-contained excitement, and gathered up their books, quills, ink, and parchment papers, while their History of Magic teacher watched over the pages of the book he had been reading aloud to the class.

As soon as the door closed behind the second boy, he said, "They're here?"

The woman nodded. "Outside the Great Hall. Come."

XXX

"It's quite overwhelming, isn't it?" Dumbledore said, smiling.

"Not _overwhelming_, exactly," Hiei said. "Just…big."

Dumbledore nodded. "It is that. But you'll be surprised at how quickly everything becomes familiar."

"You sure about that?" Yusuke asked faintly, craning his neck to try and glimpse the ceiling.

"Absolutely. Ah, here they are!" Dumbledore said, looking up their stairs. Everyone else looked, too, and saw four figures making their way down the huge staircase.

The middle figure was a very severe-looking woman with her hair held up tightly in a bun. She had precious few laugh lines on her face, and she had that "Break my rules and suffer the consequences" air about her.

The three people around her were two boys and a girl. The girl had very thick, rather bushy brown hair and bright brown eyes. The boy next to her was very tall and lanky, with fiery red hair, and the other boy was a bit shorter, and skinny, with messy black hair and bright green eyes. All of them were dressed in long black robes and carried bags on their shoulders.

The woman looked critically at Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei. "They don't _look_ like much…" Her voice was sharp and unexpected, and it echoed in the silence. Everyone but Hiei started.

"Hey, watch your tone, lady," he snapped at her in Japanese, fingering his hidden sword hilt. For once, Kurama didn't scold him. Hiei noticed the tallest boy staring at him, and he glared. He felt uncomfortable in this place, and it was making him as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof.

Dumbledore placed a calming hand on his shoulder and said, "Professor, Minerva McGonagall, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, meet Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara—"

"Just Kuwabara," Kuwabara, who also spoke English well, interrupted.

"Right—and the redhead is Yoko Kurama—Kurama. The smaller one is Hiei Jaganshi."

"Why do you say our names backward, and call us by our first names when we hardly know you?" Hiei asked.

"That's how it's done here," Dumbledore said simply. Then he turned to the other group and said in English, "Thank you, professor McGonagall." This seemed to be a sort of dismissal, because she nodded and left the go back up the stairs—to her own class, maybe. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, you are excused from your classes for the rest of the day to help our visitors get settled. Take them wherever they wish to go first, after they drop their things off in the dormitory. If you'll excuse me…"

As Dumbledore, too, disappeared, the red-haired boy, Ron, said, "So, you four are demons. You _look_ human enough…"

"Ron!" The girl—Hermione—said. "Don't be rude!" She smiled at the four foreigners. "Sorry about him. He has_ no_ tact."

"No problem," Yusuke said, smiling. "Technically, Hiei there is the only demon among us. Kurama there—that _is_ what was call him, not Yoko—that hasn't been his name in years—is human in this form, and Kuwabara and I are full-blood humans—well, mostly anyway. But that's all_ way_ too much to explain now, so…"

"Right. To the dormitory," black-haired Harry said.

XXX

"Why are there only _three_ extra beds?" Ron asked, as they walked into the dormitory that had been rearranged only that morning to fit eight of the four-poster beds instead of only five.

Yusuke snickered. "That's because…"

"Hiei doesn't like to sleep in beds," Kurama cut him off. Yusuke glanced at him in surprise, but no one else seemed to notice.

"Then where do you sleep?" Ron asked.

Hiei said nothing. He simply dragged his trunk to the large windowsill and set it there.

"Doesn't he talk?" Ron asked uneasily.

Yusuke nodded. "Oh, yeah. Hiei has a very sharp tongue, when he cares to use it. But he doesn't speak English. He'll learn fast, though."

"Oh," Ron said.

"But what you need to understand is that even when Hiei does learn English, he may not talk to you much. He's had a hard life, and he doesn't give trust freely."

"What do you mean, he's had a bad life? How hard could it possibly have been? He looks too young to have any huge problems."

Yusuke shook his head and said, "You don't understand, and it's not my place to try to explain it. Let's just say that Hiei grew up in the demon world, and it didn't treat him well."

"In other words, Ron, shut up," Hermione said.

Ron's face reddened, and he opened his mouth to speak. Harry, who obviously scented danger, said, "I can have Dumbledore try to find a way for us to be able to understand Hiei, and vice versa, if it would help."

"Really? That would be great!" Kuwabara said.

"I'll ask McGonagall to—" Harry began, but his attention was diverted by the loud bang of Kurama's trunk as he tried to juggle it and Sora's cage at the same time, with one arm. Sora screeched in protest and beat her wings against the bars of her cage.

"Here, let us help," Ron said quickly, grabbing one end of Kurama's trunk. Hermione grabbed the other, and together, the two of them heaved the trunk onto Kurama's bed, while Harry went to help Kurama calm Sora.

"That's a beautiful owl," Hermione commented, opening the trunk and starting to unload it. "Harry has the same kind. What's her name?"

"Sora," Kurama replied.

"Sora…that's a funny name," Harry said.

"No, it isn't. It means 'sky' in Japanese," Kurama said. "I love the night sky…it brings me peace. So I named her after it." He smiled and stoked the owl through the bars of the cage. "But what should I do with her now? I don't have food or anything…"

"That's easy. Just toss her out the window," Harry said easily. He grinned at their incredulous looks. "She'll fly straight to the owlery and then go rustle up some food."

"But how do you know she won't just fly away?" Kurama asked doubtfully.

"She won't, I promise," Harry said. "I'll take you to the owlery later and show you."

"Well…all right," Kurama said, unlatching the cage. Sora gave a glad hoot and spread her wings to fly to freedom. Kurama, watching her go, gave a small yelp as a different owl flew straight over his head, dropped a small package on Harry's bed, and glided silently back around and out the window.

"Cool!" Yusuke said. "What'd it bring?"

"I dunno…" Harry said, ripping open the package. A note fell out of it, and when Harry picked it up and read it, he began to laugh. "It's from Dumbledore," he explained. "Always one step ahead of us, that man."

"What're you talking about?" Kuwabara asked.

In answer, Harry reached into the box and pulled out four little devices. "Translators," he said, grinning.

"But how did he get _those_?" Kurama asked. "We only just left him!"

"Well, that guy basically has the planet at his disposal twenty-four hours a day," Hermione said. "Trust me, it isn't surprising that he could whip these up so quickly."

"Dumbledore says we should pin them to the inside of each of our robes—me, Ron, Hermione, and Hiei—and then it will seem to each of us that we're speaking each other's languages." He tossed one to Hiei, who caught it and stared at it, confused.

"Hiei, it's a translator," Yusuke explained. "Put it on the inside of your clothes so you can understand everyone."

Hiei rolled his eyes and pinned on the translator. "Happy now, detective?"

"Very," Harry answered for Yusuke. "We can understand you now."

Hiei shrugged and turned back to the window. Harry, not to be put off by Hiei's attitude, pressed on. "So, tell us about yourselves. Where did you _come_ from? How do demons stay hidden from us?"

Hiei snorted. "We hide in Makai like cowering dogs, that's how."

"What's Makai?" Hermione, ever the scholar, asked with interest.

"Demon world."

"Oooh!" Hermione said excitedly, momentarily forgetting politeness. "What's it like there? And I want the truth!" Then she seemed to remember something. "If…if you don't mind telling me, that is," she faltered.

Hiei seemed to be seriously thinking about his answer this time. He turned to look out the window, studying the grounds of the school intently.

"It's like Hell," he said finally. His voice was quiet. "You are afraid of this Voldemort character, because of how many people he's killed, but the truth is, in Makai, he would be just a common being. Because killing and being killed is an ordinary, everyday event. And if your life is taken quickly, you are lucky. Friendship is extremely rare, and love is pretty much never seen. The only reason demons even bed each other is because our race would die out if we don't make children; it is not for love. Humans say that they hate their lives, but you are incredibly lucky. Here, everyone is able to relax, and be happy. Here, you can have fun without having to watch your back every moment. Here…here you can love without fear. You can be in love and happy without fearing for the life of your lover every waking moment, and most of the sleeping ones, as well."

Here, he glanced briefly at Kurama, then looked away. _At least…I thought you could._

XXX

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei didn't end up getting a tour of the school that day. They sat and talked to Harry, Ron and Hermione all day. And the strange thing about that was that, in all those hours, they never got into personal histories. Harry, Ron and Hermione told them all about the school, the teachers, the classes, the students, Voldemort, and the entire Wizarding world.

As the day went on, it became clearer and clearer to everyone that something was going on between Hiei and Kurama. Even the wizards and witch, who knew nothing about their real relationship, felt the tension between the two, and noticed how they carefully spoke around each other and even more carefully kept their eyes averted from each other. As was customary, though, no one commented. Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't because that had _slightly_ more tact than a goldfish, and Harry, Ron and Hermione kept quiet because they didn't understand what could be going on, and they didn't want to ask and cause whatever problem their was to worsen in some way.

As the sun started to move to the western horizon, Harry checked his watch and said, "Almost time for dinner. Do you guys want to come down and face the mob now, or tomorrow during classes? If you want, we can bring some food back for you."

"Thank you," Kurama said. "I think I'll stay up here."

"Me, too," Hiei said to the window.

"So will we," Yusuke added, while Kuwabara nodded.

"All right," Ron said. "See you later, then."

"Uh…do you think you could bring back something with sugar in it?" Hiei asked awkwardly.

"Sure," Hermione answered, hiding a smile. "I think we can find _some_ kind of that…"

XXX

"I didn't know we had foreigners here!" a voice outside the dormitory door said excitedly.

Hermione's exasperated voice echoed through. "I _told_ you, Neville! They're _visiting_!"

"Why?" another new voice asked.

"To learn about foreign Wizarding schools," Harry answered smoothly.

"I want to meet them!"

The third stranger finished his sentence just as the whole party crashed into the room…to find the four new "students" staring blankly at them.

The new voices belonged to a round-faced, wide-eyed boy, a tall black boy, and a sandy-haired boy.

"Er…sorry, guys," Harry said quickly. "These are the other boys in our dorm. Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and Neville Longbottom. Guys, this is Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei."

"Hi!" Neville said brightly. "Nice to meet you! How do you like it here so far?"

"It's…nice," Kurama said. "We really haven't seen too much of it yet, though."

"I think it's awesome!" Kuwabara said.

"Ditto," Yusuke added.

"What about you, Hiei?" Seamus asked.

Hiei started when his name was said, and turned to see who had spoken. When he saw that it wasn't someone who understood him, he simply said, "Hn," and turned back to the window.

"He doesn't speak English," Harry explained. "He'll learn quickly enough, though."

"Is he mad about something?" Dean asked. "He doesn't look happy."

"He's just not the 'happy' type," Ron said.

"How would _you_ know?" Seamus asked.

"We've been talking all afternoon."

"I thought he didn't speak English," Neville said. "How can you understand him?"

"Oh…er…um…" Ron said uncomfortably.

Hermione saved the day by saying impatiently, "That doesn't matter. These are _guests_, and we should show them some _respect_. We brought them dinner, so let them eat _in peace_, and don't keep them up all night badgering them about their home and their histories and such. _I'm_ going to bed. Good night. And welcome to Hogwarts," she finished. She smiled at each of the Japanese boys, glared warningly at the rest of the boys, and turned to go.

"What's_ her_ problem?" Ron asked, not noticing the grateful smile Kurama gave Hermione's disappearing back.

* * *

_Author's Note: Okay, so maybe the characters are a little OOC, but like I tell people, they never stay the way I want them anyway, so why bother? Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review!_

* * *

**Reviewers' comments:**

**MikaSamu**: Thanks for the review! huggles I'm flattered that even the people who don't like YYH-HP crossovers would read this story anyway. Thank you so much!

**Jessica**: Thanks for the review!

**YokoYoukai**: I promise, I wasn't offended! You're _supposed_ to tell me your opinion and I'm glad you're honest! And the meeting wasn't all that interesting, I didn't want either side to show too much awe, because that bugs me. But don't worry, when the Tentei are found out…trails off meaningfully And by the way, don't threaten my dog! runs away again to avoid being eaten

**StormAZ**: I know let's all feel sorry for Hiei! And it _does_ seem rather like Yoko, ne? shudders I feel so evil…and I will only feel worse before the story's over…ah, well, life goes on, I guess…thanks for the review, by the way!


	4. The Hospital Wing

_DISCLAIMER: Methinks I owns nothin' 't all 'cept f' maybe tha' fine young fella there!_**points at Kou**

* * *

Chapter 4

Harry Potter lay awake for a long time that night after everyone else had fallen asleep, thinking about the four new people who had dropped into his, Hermione's and Ron's lives that morning, and about what a major impact their presence may have on the Wizarding world.

When Dumbledore had first called the three of them into his office a week ago, Harry, for one, had been unsure about the sudden appearance of four demons (he hadn't known that only one of them was a full-blood demon then) especially since he had never known demons even existed.

_+Flashback+_

"_Good day, Harry, Ron, Hermione," Dumbledore said as the three walked into his office, looking rather apprehensive._

"_Hello, Professor," Harry said._

"_Are we in trouble?" Ron blurted out._

"_Ron!" Hermione said, exasperated. "I'm sorry, Professor," she added quickly. _

_Dumbledore smiled. "No, no, quite all right. I suspect it _is_ quite a mystery, the reason you have been called here. You are _not_ in trouble—which is a mystery unto itself, might I add. I merely wanted to inform you of a recent…development, if you will."_

"_Development on what?" Harry asked curiously. _

_Dumbledore made a motion with his hand. "Why don't you sit down?" When Harry, Ron and Hermione were seated comfortably, he continued. "I received a letter this morning…"_

"_From who?" Ron asked._

"Whom_, Ronald. And if you let me continue, I will explain," Dumbledore said, smiling. "The letter was from a man named Lord Koenma."_

"Lord_?" Harry said. _

"_Yes. Lord," Dumbledore repeated. _

"_He must be a high-ranking guy…whoever and wherever he is."_

"_Yes, he is. He is a prince."_

"_A _what_?" Ron said loudly. Hermione couldn't help leaning forward a bit in her chair, eager to catch Dumbledore's next words. _

"_A prince. Prince of the Reikai." _

"_The _what?" _Harry asked_.

"_Reikai. Spirit World," Dumbledore said._

"_Spirit…World?" Hermione asked faintly. _

_  
Dumbledore looked puzzled at her wonder. "Yes…"_

"_Then it does exist…" Hermione breathed. _

_Even Dumbledore looked surprised, and Ron said loudly, "You _know_ what he's talking about?" _

"_Yes, I do," she said. "Kind of. I ran across it in…"_

"_A book," Harry finished._

_Dumbledore smiled again. "Well, for the ones who don't know, the Reikai is something like what we'd call Heaven. Koenma is the prince of the Reikai."_

"_But why'd he write to you?" Ron asked. Hermione smacked his arm and told him not to interrupt, and he glared at her._

_Dumbledore, ignoring the exchange, answered Ron's question. "He needed my help. It seems that Lord Voldemort…" Ron squeaked, and Dumbledore hid a smile. "Lord Voldemort captured a member of his Reikai Tentei almost three months ago…"_

"_His what?"_

"_Reikai Tentei. His detective team. Sort of his…police force, I guess you could say. One of them was captured three months ago, and he spent five weeks as a torture victim for Voldemort."_

_Hermione gasped. "That's _awful! Why_?!" _

_Dumbledore shook his head gravely. "I do not know. Only the victim and his closest friend know that. Lord Koenma only found out that Voldemort was behind it recently, and now he has requested that his Reikai Tentei come _here_ as enrolled students, to catch Voldemort."_

"_Why here?" Harry asked. _

_Dumbledore studied him for a moment, and then said softly, "I think you already know the answer to that one, Harry." _

_Harry looked a bit uncomfortable. "Yes, I suppose so…but, sir, why tell just us?" _

"_Because these four are the most powerful group to grace the three worlds in a thousand years. They are demons." _

_The result to this statement was rather explosive. Ron gave a shout of surprise, Harry nearly fell out of his chair in shock, and Hermione squealed. All three of them said simultaneously, "_Demons_!" _

_Dumbledore couldn't suppress a smile. "Yes. Demons. But you need not worry; they will not hurt anyone here. They want to catch one person, and one person only: Lord Voldemort. And they need your cooperation to do it."_

"_Ours? Why?" Ron asked. _

"_Keep them close at hand. Be their friends. Show them around and help them settle here. They need to stay close to you, Harry, since you will be their…well, not bait, exactly…but you'll be the one Voldemort comes after first when he is ready. You can think of them as…bodyguards, if you will." _

"_These demons…what are they like?" Hermione asked excitedly._

"_I do not know," Dumbledore replied. "I have never met a demon."_

"_You don't seem to surprised about all this, if you don't mind my saying so, Professor," Ron, who was still thoroughly shocked at the idea of four demons coming to Hogwarts, said. _

_Dumbledore nodded. "I _was_ surprised when I first got the letter, but not because I doubted the existence of demons; I have always believed in _them_. I was surprised by the contents of the letter. Four demons, at my school! Well, it is far too much of an opportunity to pass up, and I would like to go along with Lord Koenma's plan, but I needed the assent of you three first, since you will be the ones that will have to spend so much time with them." _

"_Absolutely!" Hermione said at once. "Demons must be _fascinating_!" _

_Harry grinned. "I'm with her. Can't be any worse than meeting Lucius Malfoy." _

"_And you, Ron?" Dumbledore asked._

"_I'm in favor," Ron said quickly, though he a bit doubtful. "Are you _sure_ they aren't dangerous, though?"_

"_Quite," Dumbledore replied. "I will send the letter right away then. And one more thing."_

"_What?" Harry asked._

"_None of the students are to know that the four are demons. It is against Reikai law for humans to know that it and the Demon World exist, and Koenma is breaking that law even by sending this request to me. They will be masquerading as foreign exchange students from Japan—which is where they really do live, currently. The only ones allowed to have this information are the other teachers, you three, and I. Tell _no one _else. Do you understand?" _

"_Yes, sir," Harry, Ron and Hermione said instantly._

"_Very well. You may return to class," Dumbledore said, already shuffling through piles of parchment, looking for a blank piece. He gave a cry of triumph that made Harry smile as they left the office. _

_+End flashback+_

And now, five days later, Harry was still trying to get used to the idea of demons' existence, even though they were right there in his dormitory. They seemed nice enough, and he trusted Professor Dumbledore completely, but it all seemed so _weird_! If Albus Dumbledore, said to be the greatest wizard in the known world, couldn't defeat Voldemort, then what gave him so much confidence in these four, who didn't look older than eighteen and definitely not strong enough to beat Voldemort? They didn't even know any magic!

His last thought before he turned over and went to sleep was, _But Dumbledore says they can beat him…once and for all…_

XXX

Kurama sat up suddenly, grabbing blindly at the figure next to his bed. His chest was tight with panic, and his breath was harsh as he fought to push the person back while kicking the covers away.

The person he now had by the throat struggled violently, and a crash echoed through the dormitory, waking everyone.

Lamps clicked on, nearly blinding Kurama with their intensity. Once he could see, he yanked his hand back from his "attacker" in horror.

Seamus Finnegan glared at him, rubbing his neck. "What's _wrong_ with you? I just wanted some water!" He pointed to the jug on the floor under the window next to Kurama's bed. On the windowsill, Hiei sat, watching Kurama intently. He hadn't even moved during the struggle. When Kurama looked at him, he quickly turned to stare out the window, as if ignoring the scene, though he was obviously listening. Kurama looked at him sadly and then turned to the angry Seamus.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I thought…I was having a nightmare, and…" As he said this, the details of the dream began flashing through his mind, causing panic to well up inside him again. "When I woke up and you were right there…I'm sorry."

"Must've been one hell of a dream," Seamus complained. "That _hurt_, man!"

"I'm _sorry_," Kurama repeated. "To all of you. What time is it?"

"Four AM," Harry answered. "We can still catch a few hours of sleep."

Grumbling, Seamus when back to his bed. The lights were turned off, and the room fell silent again, except for the soft footsteps of Harry. Under the pretense of getting a drink of water, he whispered to Kurama, "Was it about Voldemort?"

"Yeah," Kurama replied, wiping his hand over his forehead, which was covered in a fine sheen of sweat from when he was caught in the throes of his nightmare.

Harry rested a hand on his shoulder in a compassionate gesture. He knew all too well the nightmares one could get from being in the presence of Lord Voldemort for even a few minutes, and he couldn't even imagine the terror of being locked in his fortress—wherever it was—for over a month. "Will you be all right?"

Kurama nodded. "I'll be fine."

But he was lying. As Harry moved back to his bed, he settled back against his pillow, eyes wide open, his injured arm throbbing as if it had just been broken. The details of his dream were fading quickly now, leaving a feeling of stark terror in their wake.

He glanced at Hiei. The Jaganshi was still awake, as well, staring at the ceiling and ignoring the fox's attempt to catch his eye. He was still angry, then. Or, if not angry, hurt.

Who could blame him?

Still, Kurama missed his love's warmth in the bed next to him. Missed having Hiei in his arms when he woke up. It had always been his favorite way to wake. He'd always felt so close to his mate in those moments…like nothing could tear them apart. But now, even though Hiei was barely three feet from his bed, it felt as if he was back in Japan.

He had to resolve things, now.

"Hiei?"

"Go to sleep, Kurama," Hiei said without looking at him. "No one will try to get at you with all these people around."

Kurama felt a lump rise in his throat. "Won't you listen to _anything _I have to say?"

"I don't need to. You've made things clear. I can handle it. Now go to sleep."

XXX

Hiei almost physically hurt as he watched Kurama turn away from him. But he knew that if Kurama had finished his accusation, he wouldn't have been able to hold back the waves of guilt that he'd been consciously setting aside. When Kurama had been telling him firmly that it _wasn't_ his fault, it had been fine. But now that he knew how Kurama _really_ felt, the shame was killing him.

Maybe he _should_ talk to Kurama…but would that do any good at all? Or would it just end with Hiei feeling worse about himself and Kurama angrier with him?

Or, maybe, talking would solve whatever problem they'd had for the last couple of days.

"I'm sorry," Hiei said quietly.

No answer. Kurama was already asleep. He wasn't faking, so Hiei couldn't tell him his feelings, pretending to think he really was sleeping. Heaving a sigh that seemed to originate somewhere around his feet, Hiei leaned back against the wall to wait for dawn.

Hiei was still wide awake when everyone else started to get up three hours later. Harry was the first to wake, and he went around the room, shaking everyone out of bed. He hesitated to approach Kurama, but then he stepped up to the bed and shook his shoulder.

Kurama groaned and turned over, opening bleary green eyes. "Mm…what?" he mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty," Harry replied. "Breakfast is in fifteen minutes, and then your first day of classes. But I'm supposed to take you to the hospital wing first, so after breakfast we'll go there."

Kurama nodded. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Harry looked doubtful. "You don't know your way around."

"Then go down to the common room with everyone else. I'll be there in a minute," Kurama said. He wanted to get Harry out of the room so he could talk to Hiei, and see whether he'd imagined last night's apology or not. (He'd only been half-asleep. Hiei had been wrong.)

Harry shrugged. "All right, me and Hiei'll go down and wait for everyone else.

Kurama started to protest, but before he could figure out exactly what to say, Harry had dragged Hiei out of the room, and Kurama was alone, and quite unhappy.

"Good morning, Kurama!" Hermione said as Kurama joined her, Harry, Ron and the others in the common room ten minutes later. He could tell from her too-bright voice that Harry and Ron had told her of the happenings from the night before. But he chose to set aside embarrassment and said lightly, "Good morning. Shall we?"

She laughed and shook her head. "Don't be so polite! You sound like an old man! Come on, all of you! I'm hungry!" She grabbed Ron by the arm, and he allowed himself to be dragged away, amid many protests.

Harry shook his heads, smiling. "Those two…c'mon, guys, let's go."

Kurama tried to drop back beside Hiei as the group made their way down to eat, but whenever he started to lag behind, Harry would grab him by the arm and tell him to hurry up, and call for Hiei to do the same. Each time he did this, Hermione would glare at him for some reason, and Harry would give her a baffled look. Kurama finally gave up, but he wasn't happy about it.

The four were led to the large double doors they had seen at the entrance to the school the day before. "_This_ is my favorite part of the whole school," Harry said, throwing open the doors. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei stared at the sight.

The single room was massive. It was lit by thousands of candles floating in their air, illuminating five long tables. Four of the tables were arranged lengthwise, and crowded with chattering students. The last one was set against the back wall, facing the table, and at that table sat the teachers.

"We're at that table," Harry said, pointing.

"Hey, Harry!"

Harry smiled as a young woman with hair as red as Ron's got up from the table and came over to them. "Morning," he said, kissing her quickly. "I'd like you to meet Hogwart's guests, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei. Guys, this is Ginny, my girlfriend and Ron's sister."

All of them except Hiei greeted her courteously, but the Jaganshi just grunted and walked past her and sat down. Ginny looked confused, but she then took on a rather determined look, and marched back to the table.

"Uh-oh," Harry said. "I think she's gonna…yep, she did," he finished as Ginny sat down next to Hiei. "She's gonna chat him into mindless, soulless insanity as punishment." He smiled fondly.

"I hope she has medical insurance," Yusuke said wryly.

Ron laughed and said, "Yeah, like she'd need it." His face slowly grew serious when none of the Tentei smiled. "L-let's go sit down…um, Ginny, he can't speak English, so that's kinda useless," Ron said as he went over to sit next to the two of them.

"Hey, Harry, who're your friends?" another voice from the table asked.

"Morning to you, too, Colin," Harry said. "I'm sure Dumbledore will explain it, but their names are Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei and Kuwabara."

"Sounds foreign," Colin said to Yusuke. "Are you foreign?"

Yusuke opened his mouth to answer, but just then, Dumbledore stood and waved his hand for silence. Everyone looked puzzled, and the reason for this was explained as soon as Dumbledore spoke. "It is true that announcements are usually saved for dinner. However, there is something I must tell you all, and I realized that I had forgotten to do it last night, in my many, many excursions." The students laughed appreciatively, and Dumbledore smiled. "We have four new students in our midst as of yesterday morn. They are from a wizarding school in Japan, visiting for a rather lengthy amount of time. It is my expectation that _all_ of you will grant our guests courtesy and respect, and make them happy and comfortable for the time they are away from home. Welcome, Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara."

The four Japanese "wizards" suddenly became the center of much discomforting attention, and were forced to down their food at an alarming rate and escape to the hospital wing with Harry, while Ron and Hermione went to class.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Harry called into the large room as he and the others finally arrived at it after walking up many staircases and down many corridors. "Madam Pomfrey, are you here? Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes, yes, don't fly off the handle, boy!" an irritable, faint voice said from beyond a door at the other end of the room. A moment later, a woman came through it. "Oh. Mr. Potter. What ails you now?"

"Oh, it's…" Harry began.

"Broken arm again? Sprained ankle, bruised knee, concussion?"

"It's not…" Harry tried to tell her. But it was in vain; she plowed on through her list of injuries as if talking to the wall.

"Today isn't even Quidditch, honestly…"

"Madam Pomfrey, _it's not me_!" Harry bellowed finally.

The woman took a step back and spluttered indignantly, "Well, you needn't _shout_ so…you could have just _said_ that in the first place…who is it, then?"

Kurama stepped forward. "Me, if you please, ma'am."

Madam Pomfrey looked him over with her lips pursed. "You are one of the demons, then?"

"Yes…sort of," Kurama replied. Harry's eyes flicked to him in faint puzzlement.

"You're too thin."

"Er…excuse me?" Kurama asked.

"You're too thin," the nurse repeated. "And pale. Are you ill?"

"Um…no, ma'am."

"You look ill."

"I'm not, ma'am."

"Then what is wrong, that made you come up to see me?"

"Er…" Kurama lifted his arm, just a little, and bit back a gasp, as pain raced down his arm like it did every time he moved it. _Why isn't it healing yet_? "My…arm…"

"Oh. Of course. Silly me. Come, come, sit," Madam Pomfrey said, taking his good arm and making him sit on one of the beds. "Take off the sling," she said. Moving gingerly, Kurama complied.

"Does it make you tired?" he asked as she shooed the others away.

Madam Pomfrey raised her eyebrows. "To heal your arm, you mean?" He nodded. "No, no, of course not. Why should it?" She sounded so incredulous that Kurama merely gave a one-shouldered shrug and fell silent.

Madam Pomfrey took out one of those odd sticks everyone had around here. Kurama tensed. "W-what are you going to do with that?"

"I'm going to use it on you," she said, as if it were obvious. She pointed the thing at him, and suddenly, Kurama wasn't in the hospital wing anymore. He was in a dark, damp, filthy dungeon, with a man, cloaked and hooded, standing menacingly in front of him, pointing a small stick at him, immobilizing him, blinding him with pain, laughing coldly and humorlessly as he prepared to give the kitsune the ultimate torture…

"Kurama!"

The single, panicked word brought Kurama slowly back to the present, and he panicked when he felt the hands pinning him to the bed. He thrashed and tried to break free, his chest constricting in panic, his breath catching in his throat. The hands held fast, though, even though whoever it was gave a pained groan as one of Kurama's kicks connected, and Kurama grew more and more terrified by the second.

"Detective, you'll only frighten him more! Get off."

The weight disappeared, and Kurama scrambled back and hit the headboard of the bed, pressing himself against him in his fight.

"Kurama…Kurama, calm down. It's all right. "Shh, shh…" The voice was deep and soothing, calming Kurama far more effectively than anything else. He felt himself relax, and his vision cleared.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Harry, and Madam Pomfrey all stood over him, looking concerned. Kurama tried to sit up, and groaned. Fire raced from his left shoulder to the tips of his fingers.

"W-what happened?" he panted.

Harry was the one who answered. "Madam Pomfrey pointed her wand at you, and you went…kind of crazy. You started convulsing and thrashing around, yelling like someone was killing you."

"What happened, Kurama?" Kuwabara asked.

"Just…just a flashback," Kurama said vaguely. "I'm sorry…I'm fine now. Really," he insisted at their skeptical looks.

"Are you sure?" Hiei asked.

Kurama met his gaze for the first time in days, and managed a small smile. "Yes," he said quietly. Hiei looked away pointedly. Kurama's jaw tightened. He understood that Hiei had been hurt, but enough was enough!

Madam Pomfrey broke the awkward silence. "Now, then, if you really are fine, then we should get on with it and get you boys to class." She pulled her little stick out again, and this time, Kurama didn't panic when she pointed it at him, though he did flinch. She muttered something, a small beam of light flew out of the want and hit Kurama's arm, and…

A vase across the room exploded as the beam bounced off Kurama and hit it. Everyone jumped a foot, and Madam Pomfrey cried out.

"What the _hell_?" Hiei demanded.

Madam Pomfrey ignored him. She looked shaken. "How did your arm break, boy?"

"I…I don't know," Kurama said quietly.

"How can you not _know_?" Madam Pomfrey snapped.

"I just don't."

"Are you quite sure?"

"Yes."

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I've never gotten that reaction before, from _anybody_…except one person, who died scarcely an hour after the attempt."

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but when they did, a horrible feeling grew in the pit of Kurama's stomach. He heard someone give a strangled gasp, but he wasn't sure whom. "A-are you saying I'm going to…"

"Oh, no, no, no, of course not! I'm simply saying that I can't heal your wound." Kurama thought he heard a sigh of relief, and this time he was sure it had come from Hiei. "Whatever that horrible man did to your arm has made it unhealable by magic. It will have to heal on its own. I'm so sorry."

Kurama shook his head as he settled his arm back into its sling, wincing. "It isn't your fault," he said simply. "I've dealt with worse."

Madam Pomfrey muttered to herself as they left. "What brave words from a teenaged boy who looks thoroughly feminine…"

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_Author's Note: Okay, let's recap: Kurama and Hiei are idiots and are prolonging this spat unnecessarily. _**slaps both of them over the head**_ Morons…_

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**Reviewers' comments:**

**darkspirals**: First of all, thanks for the review. Second of all, let me correct your objections: I know my line breaks aren't working on FanFiction, but they work on MediaMiner, which is the main site I post on, anyway, even though most of my reviews come from FanFiction. Thirdly, I know very well that Yusuke isn't full-blooded human, which is why he said "sort of." But the whole Mazo-kou deal has yet to be explained. It will be soon, if you're patient, along with everyone else's pasts. Fourthly, it actually does make sense for Hiei to be the only non-English speaking one, because Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama all learned English in school—it's one of the major Japanese courses—and Hiei has never _been_ to school. And fifthly, yes, it _was_ too good to last. Hiei and Kurama are idiots, no?

**YokoYoukai**: I know! KURAMA IS A MORON! And unfortunately, they don't get "found out" until the end…that's all I'm gonna say…but you'll be waiting for a while…sorry…**stares at flame** **thrower **Okay, it's time for me to run again! **calls over shoulder** THANKS FOR THE REVIEW!

**StormAZ**: Thanks for the review! Yep, Hermione sure enjoys the motherly role she has decided to play…and the "scholarly" role, too…I agree! Updates are a GREAT thing!


	5. Forgiveness Is All The Better If You Wai...

_DISCLAIMER: How the heck am I supposed to find a way to own Yu Yu Hakusho? I can BARELY afford to buy two Dragonlance novels! The only thing I can afford to do with the Yu Yu Hakusho characters is play with them a little bit and send them on their way._

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Chapter 5

"Professor Sprout?"

"Oh, there you are!"

The woman who had spoken was very short and dressed in green robes covered in dirt and soil. Her hair poked out from under the gardening hat she wore, giving her a rather flyaway appearance. Her face was pleasantly round, and laugh lines creased her features.

"And you must be the new foreign students," Professor Sprout said brightly. "I'm your Herbology teacher.

Yusuke held out his hand, and Professor Sprout stripped off one dirty glove and shook it—hand, not glove.

"Well, go ahead, join everyone else at the table. We've got an easy class today—just feeding the mandrakes. Would have done it myself, but I didn't have anything planned for my seventh years…"

Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Harry joined Ron and Hermione at the trestle table. They were given earmuffs to wear—Hermione gave them a quick explanation of mandrakes—and they were shown how to poke strange seed-like things down the throats of the mandrakes—purplish, tufty plants with ugly, muddy _babies_ in place of roots.

Kurama, for one, was beginning to think that nothing about this place could surprise him.

Kurama spent almost the entire Herbology class trying to catch Hiei's eye. When Hiei avoided his gaze every time, Kurama got angry and stared down at the plants, jaw tight, until the bell rang, and everyone began to clean up.

XXX

Hiei fought down a sigh as he followed the rest of the group into the Charms classroom for their last class of the day. _I _hate_ this_! he thought grumpily. _Stupid school…stupid classes…stupid _people!

"Come on, Hiei, it's not that bad!" Kuwabara said, noticing Hiei's scowl.

Hiei froze him with a death glare. "Shut up."

Kuwabara shook his head and shrugged. "Whatever. Be miserable. What the hell do I care?"

Hiei rolled his eyes as Kuwabara turned away, ignoring the twinge of remorse he felt. _And stupid human for _teaching_ me remorse!_ he thought violently.

He was in a _very_ bad mood. It had gotten worse all day as he went with everyone else to Transfiguration, skipped lunch, and then went to Defense Against the Dark Arts. (In those two classes, they had simply "observed", as they couldn't actually do magic, though the Tentei could have shown the human a thing or two about defense, and even more about _off_ense, as Hiei had muttered rebelliously when he was told to sit and watch the class with the rest of the Tentei.)

As much as he hated to admit it, he did miss Japan, as Kurama had said. He missed Kurama's house, and the familiarity of Tokyo, and Shiori, his only full-blood-human friend. He didn't like England. It was unfamiliar, and it made him feel out of place. He hated feel out of place. And it was lonely without Kurama by his side.

As he was sent to the corner of the room with Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama to have people stare at him openly as they worked, he kept repeating, _It has to be done, it has to be done, it has to be done…_over and over in his thoughts.

It was the only thing that kept him sane.

XXX

"What do you mean, you're not hungry?" Ron demanded. "You skipped lunch and hardly ate any breakfast!"

Hiei regarded him with a cold stare. "I said I wasn't hungry. I'm staying here." His tone brooked no argument, but Ron tried anyway…or he was going to, before Hermione said, "Oh, Ron, leave him be. If he's not hungry, he's not hungry. I suppose you _are_ telling the truth?" she added to Hiei.

"What's it to you?" Hiei asked coolly.

She glared at him. "Don't be rude. I'm only asking because if you really are hungry and just want to avoid the crowd, we _can_ bring something back. You don't have to act like an ungrateful little brat."

In a flash, Hiei had his sword out and leveled at her throat. "I could kill you right now," he said softly, ignoring the frightened look Ron gave him.

Hermione gazed at him coolly. "I know you would. But that wouldn't make you any more polite…or any less hungry."

There was a moment of utter silence, and then Hiei sheathed his sword and, to everyone's shock, favored Hermione with a small smile. "I'm really not hungry," he said, and then he turned away, and climbed back up onto the windowsill, while Hermione left with the others, feeling as if she'd just passed some sort of test.

"That was _awesome_!" Ron said excitedly, as he left for lunch with Harry, Hermione, and the Tentei. "I didn't know Hiei had a _sword_!"

Hermione glared at him. "And I suppose it would have been an even better show if he had decapitated me!"

Ron faltered a bit. "Well…well, no, but…he wouldn't _really_ do that…would he?"

"Yes," Yusuke and Kuwabara said at the same time.

"H-he would?"

"Yep. If he got mad enough. But I don't think he would have this time."

"Then why did he threaten to?" Hermione asked.

Yusuke shrugged. "He was testing you. He wanted to see if you were brave enough to face down him and his blade."

"Why me, though?"

"That's harder to understand. Maybe you were just the first chance he got," Kuwabara said, shrugging.

"That guy's _weird_," Harry said.

"He is," Yusuke agreed. "But…" he paused.

"But what?" Ron asked.

Kurama made an indistinct noise in his throat. Yusuke glanced at him and said quickly, "Never mind. Let's just go eat."

Ron shook his head as Yusuke hurried ahead, shaking his own head as if angry with himself. "You're _all_ weird," he muttered.

In the Great Hall, the absence of the Jaganshi was immediately noticed by the Gryffindors. (Hiei was a rather memorable person because of his tendency to frighten people out of their wits.) It took half a dozen explanations before the disappointed Gryffindors stopped demanding to know where he was. (He awed many of the ones who feared him.)

"How did Hiei get so popular so fast?" Yusuke asked in mild surprise as he took a seat.

Harry smiled. "We don't usually get foreign exchange students, especially ones as scary as Hiei."

"Well, there are very few people as scary as Hiei," Kuwabara pointed out.

"True."

"Hi!" a shrill voice interrupted excitedly behind him.

Kurama, who had been awkwardly buttering a piece of bread, froze as if he had been turned to stone. Then he closed his eyes as if in prayer and turned slowly, glaring at his friends, who were smirking at his discomfort.

"Hello," he said, fighting to keep his voice polite.

"Hi," the girl repeated. "I'm Parvati Patil!"

"My name is Kurama."

"I know _that_," Parvati said, shoving Ron to the side so she could sit down. "_Everyone_ knows that! So how do you like this school?"

Kurama sighed inwardly and resigned himself to a long, drawn-out conversation with yet another Hogwarts girl. _Every new school_…

He forced a smile onto his face and said, "It's very nice."

"Better than the schools in Japan?"

Kurama thought about this and said honestly, "I like my home better."

Parvati smiled. "Maybe I'll go there sometime."

_Please, no…_"Great."

Parvati paused and said, "We've all been just dying to ask you. What happened to your arm?"

"Car accident," Kurama lied.

"Madam Pomfrey could mend it in a minute," Parvati said.

"We tried that."

"And it didn't work?" Parvati asked, shocked. "_Why_?"

"We don't know," Ron said suddenly. "But we _do_ know that you're being very annoying, so will you stop flirting and _go away_?"

Parvati glared at him. "Well, _you_ may not want my company, Ronald, but Kurama…"

"Wants it less," Harry said.

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is. He's too polite to say it, but you're the fifth girl that's come up to him today and forced him into long, boring conversations, and it's getting annoying. So go away," Hermione said.

Parvati glared at them all and stalked off in a huff.

"Thanks," Kurama muttered to Ron, Hermione, and Harry.

"You're really popular," Ron commented.

"I know. It's a damn curse," Kurama said, shaking his head. "Those girls are _scary_."

XXX

_Hurry up and get back here, you stupid humans_! Hiei thought.

He was sitting in his window. His sword lay across his lap, and he was running a rag over it, even though it didn't need polishing. But the motions helped to clear his head.

He never thought he'd be waiting for _humans _to come back. Especially a whole annoying group of them. But if _they_ came back, _Kurama_ would come back.

He looked at the clock across the room. _Nine-thirty_…he thought after managing to work out the numbers and their meaning. _How long does it take to _eat? He wondered. He glared at the door as if by doing this, he could make it open and force Kurama and the others to appear. And there was no way in hell he was going to leave the quiet of this room to go down to the rest of the school.

Though that idea did have its merits, Hiei reflected, remembering with a smirk how thoroughly he'd managed to frighten the students on his very first day meeting them all.

Hiei swallowed a yawn. He was tired! He shouldn't be—he was hardly ever tired before eleven—but he was. Must be the new environment…

He couldn't fall asleep. He would miss doing what he wanted to do…

XXX

"I'm turning in," Kurama said, having checked his watch and finding that it was almost eleven. He and the others had been in the common room for almost three hours, now, and Kurama, for one, was tired.

"Oh…all right," Hermione said, even as Ron and Harry looked faintly disappointed. "Sleep well."

Kurama waved his hand at her as he walked up the stairs. As he threw open the door to the dormitory, he said, "All right, this has gone on long enough, Hiei. I know you're mad at me, but—"

He stopped midsentence when he saw Hiei, curled up in the window, fast asleep. He was still fully dressed, including cloak. Smiling softly, Kurama very carefully removed the cloak and spread it over its owner. Hiei rolled over and pulled his "blanket" around himself tightly, but didn't wake.

Kurama bit back the urge to wake him. Hiei had looked tired today, and he needed to sleep.

But tomorrow morning, no matter what tried to get in his way, he _would_ apologize to Hiei. First thing in the morning. He was tired of fighting with his lover.

_It's funny_, Kurama thought sleepily as he stumbled to his bed. _I haven't thought of him as my ex once the whole time we've been fighting._

XXX

Hiei woke suddenly, staring into the darkness and wondering what had woken him.

The room was utterly silent, except for a small, almost silent whimper. He doubted he would have even picked it up if his youkai hearing wasn't so acute.

Hiei looked across the room, and his heart melted at the sight that met his eyes.

Kurama was curled up in a small ball on his bed. It looked like he was trying to be as small as possible. He was obviously the source of the sound that had woken Hiei, and his whimpers seemed to be growing in confidence.

Hiei sat up, and his cloak fell off him. He looked at it, confused, but then he decided to ignore the fact that he'd been _wearing _it when he'd fallen asleep.

He crept over to Kurama's bed and placed a hand on his head. "Shh," he said softly. "Shh…it's all right. You're safe."

Kurama quieted, coming out of his protective ball, but Hiei didn't move away. He hadn't been this close to Kurama since their fight. _He's beautiful_…

Before he even realized what he was doing, he slid into the bed next to Kurama, and curled up at his side, content to be close to him, even if it was just for a moment.

Suddenly, an arm snaked around his waist, and he was jerked close to Kurama. He bit back a cry, because something told him that nothing was wrong.

"Hiei…" Kurama said softly, the word coming out slowly, as if he were tasting it. Hiei felt a jolt of happiness at the sound. "Love…" he repeated. "I'm sor—"

Hiei placed a finger at Kurama's lips. "Shut up, fox. You were right. It's me who's sorry."

"But I _wasn't_ right, Hiei! It _wasn't_ your fault!" Kurama protested. "I didn't mean that—I was just…scared. Scared of meeting _him_ again. It made me a bit…harsh. But today is the day you stop blaming yourself, because it's useless and annoying to both of us. Is that clear?"

Hiei felt a smile spread across his face, and he kissed Kurama and said, "Crystal. So is there room for two to sleep in this bed?"

Kurama chuckled. "You actually thought I was going to _let_ you move?" he teased, drawing the Jaganshi closer.

Hiei found the idea of falling asleep in Kurama's arms right then very inviting, but there was still something to do. "I'm sorry, fox. I couldn't save you from the worst fate that bastard could give you. I tried…so hard. But…we couldn't find you. Mukuro had people looking, and _they_ had people looking…it just wasn't enough."

He felt Kurama shake his head. "Forget it. It was awful, but…it happens. I can't do anything about the past, so why dwell on it?"

"Make sense. So we're…what is that phrase humans use?…we're good now?"

"Yes. We're good." Kurama's lips pressed against Hiei's forehead in the dark. "I love you."

Hiei wrapped his arm around the kitsune's waist, planted a kiss on his lips, and curled up, practically on top of his fox. He just had time to think that Kurama fit perfectly in the circle of his arms before sleep carried him away.

* * *

_Kitsune: According to this contract that I have drawn up…_**brandishes sheet of paper**_…you must REVIEW now that you have READ._

_Hiei: They have to sign it before it's legal, moron._

_Kitsune: They…they do?_

_Kurama: I believe so._

_Kitsune: Oh…but…you'll review anyway, won't you? Please? _**looks pleadingly at readers**

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**Reviewers' comments:**

**darkspirals**: I don't mind you pointing things out! That's why people review! I was just countering the things you pointed out. And I have to admit, your explanation does make sense…but Hiei hasn't ever lived in England, just Japan, so…yeah. Anyway, thanks for the review!

**StormAZ**: Yep, you're pretty much the only reviewer around on Mediaminer. Most of my reviewers—of which there are precious few—read the fic on FanFiction. So anyways, thanks for the review, and yes, I did choose this chapter to pick on poor Kurama. I didn't mean to, honest! **defensive** It just sort of happened! They made me do it! **points at the evil muses in the form of assorted chibis and bishis**

**YokoYoukai**: Well, they finally made up! **breathes sigh of relief** Now Hiei-muse can get off my back…looks **apprehensively at saber and starts to run** HIEI, I PUT YOU AND KURAMA BACK TOGETHER, SO NOW YOU HAVE TO DO ME A FAVOR AND HEEEELLLLP MEEEE!

**Koritsune Dragonrider**: Okay, so I know that you sent a review to Fluff and Circumstance, but I wanted to reply, so…here it is, if you ever get around to reading this story, too. Thanks for reviewing me! How long ago did you write your first story? I'm kind of a rookie—the Fluff series is the first set of fanfics I've really written on my own (I used to co-author with my sister, see) and because of that, it always means a lot to me when people say they like my stories. So thanks a lot for the review! And by the way, the Rascal Flatts are one of my favorite groups…and the song fit the chapter perfectly.


	6. Potions

_DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Kou. Period. Paragraph._

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Chapter 6

"AHHH!"

Hiei was woken abruptly by the loud yell, and then he felt the absence of Kurama's warmth. _No_…He sat up, fumbling blindly for his katana.

"Hiei, put it away. Everything's fine."

"Kurama?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for scaring you."

Hiei slid his katana back into its sheath and blinked until the sleep cleared from his eyes. "Wha' happen? Why'd you yell?" he asked, his voice slightly slurred.

"Sorry," Kurama repeated. "Harry scared me."

It was only then that Hiei noticed Harry standing next to the bed, and that the rest of the room was empty. "Oh. Well, don't do it again," he muttered, yawning.

He head Kurama's musical laugh, and smiled. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Seven-thirty. Harry was coming to wake me up, and he saw us both here, and…"

"And he was surprised to see the position we were in," Hiei finished.

"Er…you could say that," Harry said. "So…are you two…um…" He trailed off, flushing red.

"Together?" Kurama supplied. "Yes."

"So both of you are…"

"Gay." Kurama nodded. "Bi, actually."

"But…how…when…?" Harry asked, confused.

Hiei answered this time. "About a year."

"Then why haven't you given us any sign of it?"

Hiei smiled ruefully. "One of us is a bit bullheaded."

Harry was silent for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not to say what he was thinking. Then he said, "It's nice to see you smile."

"Isn't it?" Kurama said brightly. "You know, the Hiei you met two days ago used to be the only Hiei there was."

Harry shuddered. "I don't envy you guys…"

"Shut up, both of you," Hiei snapped, making Kurama and Hiei laugh.

"Get dressed," Harry said, changing the subject. "We're late. Yusuke and Kuwabara are in the Great Hall already and Hermione and Ron are in the Common Room. I'll meet you down there."

As he got up to leave, Kurama asked, "So this doesn't bother you?"

Harry looked genuinely confused. "Should it?"

"Er…well…the whole same-gender-relationship thing bothers most people."

Harry shook his head. "I don't see why…you're both happy, right?"

"Yes, of course," Kurama said, at the same time Hiei said, "Obviously."

"Then there's no problem."

"And do the others feel this way?" Kurama asked.

Harry thought about that for a minute. "I know Ron and Hermione won't care. Hermione just wants to learn from you, and she could do that whether you're gay or straight. And Ron is just…Ron." He shrugged, as if that explained it.

"What about the other boys…Neville, Seamus, and Dean?" Hiei asked.

"Neville won't mind. I don't think he really thinks about things like that. I don't know about Seamus and Dean, but they should accept it. What I want to know is why you didn't tell us before."

Kurama shrugged. "I don't know…it just didn't seem important to tell you, since…"

"We weren't talking," Hiei finished.

"Why weren't you talking?" Harry asked.

"Never mind that," Hiei said, when Kurama simply looked uncomfortable. "It's not important anymore. Now go down and tell the Redhead and the Scholar that we'll be down in a minute."

As soon as Harry left, Hiei surprised Kurama by turning around, jumping into his lap, and kissing him thoroughly. Kurama's eyes widened, but then he wrapped his good arm around Hiei and kissed him back.

"I missed that," Hiei said breathlessly when they parted.

Kurama smiled and squeezed his hand. "Get your cloak, love. I'll get dressed."

A couple of minutes later, Hiei and Kurama walked down to the common room. As soon as they entered, it became obvious that Harry had told Ron and Hermione what had transpired up in the dormitory, from the looks they got from the two. But it seemed that Harry had been right; Ron and Hermione treated them no differently than they had been for two days.

As they walked down the corridor, Harry suddenly began to laugh. At Ron's, Hermione's, Hiei's and Kurama's have-you-lost-it looks, he explained, "I was just thinking about the looks on all those girls' faces when they find out about you, Kurama."

"Girls?" Hiei asked, as Ron and Hermione chuckled. "There are fan girls _here_ too?"

Kurama sighed. "Afraid so. It's worse than the black plague!"

"It can't be that bad," Ron said. "Why, if I had all those girls fawning over me all the…ow!" He yelped as Hermione slapped him on the arm.

Kurama was still laughing at the very idea of being _happy_ about all the fan girls when they got to the great hall.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Beautiful day, isn't it?" He gestured to the clear ceiling, which today showed gray, stormy clouds. He hummed a happy tune as he sat down and began piling the plate in front of him with food.

"What's got into _him_?" Kuwabara asked, staring at Kurama, who was quickly joined by Hiei, who sat down next to him and kissed his cheek. Kurama's smile got just a bit wider, and Kuwabara grinned. "Oh. So they're back together."

"They never broke up," Yusuke corrected. "Just argued for a while. Did we ever find out what that was all about?"

"No. And it's none of our business," Kuwabara said firmly.

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "All right, all right. Spare me the lecture." Muttering, he went to sit down next to Neville, whom he'd seemed to take a liking to.

All through breakfast, Hiei and Kurama _tried_ to do the newly-made-up-couple thing, but they were repeatedly interrupted by the female of the species (well, Shuuichi's species, anyway…) who literally came up to them every five minutes, commandeering the seat on the other side of Kurama to chatter his ear off until Harry, Ron or Hermione told them to go away.

Those girls were either the bravest human ever to walk the earth, or they were just too absorbed in Kurama to _notice_ Hiei's frequent death glares for stealing his fox, who was, in Hiei's opinion, far too polite for his own good. Couldn't they _see_ that Kurama was so bored it was growing painful? It was plain on his face! And couldn't they _hear_ the low growls coming from the kitsune's mate?

An explosion was coming.

The most recent girl had moved away, and Hiei was moodily turning his fork over and over in his hands, while Kurama halfheartedly began their conversation for the sixth time, when Parvati Patil's all-too-perky voice piped up being them. "Hi, Kurama!"

Hiei growled loudly. "Oh, for the love of—" He threw his fork down so violently that it bounced across the table and nailed Yusuke in the face, turned in his seat, and pulled Kurama into a kiss that would have made the fox weak at the knees, had they been standing up. Kurama was shocked by the action at first, but then he closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of Hiei's lips against his own.

After a few moments, Hiei pulled away, feeling in great need of air. After he had dragged some into his lungs, he turned to the wide-eyed, shocked Parvati and snapped, "Do you get it _now_? He's not yours, so _go away_."

Parvati didn't understand, of course, but she didn't need Yusuke's translation; she had gotten the general idea. In her silence, jeers sounded, and laughter at the look on her face. It was mostly from the boys, though; the girls found nothing funny about the fact that their crush was actually homosexual.

Kurama, though, was laughing. Parvati seemed to take this as a personal insult, and she flounced off in a huff.

"That was fun," Hiei said, though he was still too annoyed to smile.

Kurama grinned at him, though, and just the sight was enough to make Hiei crack a smile. "I don't think they'll be around again, love," Kurama said, leaning over to kiss him again, lightly.

"Aww…" Harry teased as they parted.

"Shut up, human," Hiei said darkly as he turned to wolf down his food.

Kurama, watching him, shook his head. "Hiei-love, there are several hundred people in this room who, unlike me, are not used to your habits, and do _not_ find them rather endearing. Don't repulse them." His tone was teasing, though.

Hiei smiled slightly and slowed down. "What's your first class today?" He asked around his toast. (He may have been able to eat slowly if his fox told him to do so, but he had yet to master the art of not speaking with a full mouth.)

"Hiei, love, remember what we talked about at every meal we ate with my mother before we came here?" Kurama reminded him gently.

Hiei, looking sheepish, swallowed the food and repeated his question.

"Potions," Ron answered, groaning.

"Great," Harry said sarcastically.

"What's the problem?" Kuwabara asked.

"The problem is that you four are going to meet the two worst people in the entire school in one fell swoop," Hermione told him. "I can't think of why you haven't met them yet, but you'll get your fill of them in one class period, I promise you that."

"Oh, it can't be that bad," Yusuke said, chuckling.

"You just wait," Ron said darkly.

"Well, no matter how bad they are, I can say with a completely clear conscience that the Reikai Tentei has met and killed worse," Hiei said casually. At their incredulous looks, he asked, "Did I say something humans find odd again, Kurama?"

"Probably," Kurama said. "The whole killing thing disconcerts them."

"You've _killed_ people?" Ron exclaimed, though he kept his voice very quiet, in case someone was listening. "I thought you were a _detective_ team."

"We are. Our job is to hunt down anything dangerous to the Ningenkai and Reikai in Makai, and destroy it," Hiei said, as if it were the most obvious job in the world for a detective team to do.

"Wow…" Harry said.

"Isn't that dangerous to all of you, as well?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, very," Kurama replied. "But we've become used to it."

"What kinds of fights have you been through?" Ron asked interestedly. "I bet it's awesome to do that kind of thing all the time!"

At that, an uncomfortable silence fell over the four. Yusuke was the one who answered. "No," he said quietly. "It's…painful, sometimes."

"Painful? How?" Ron asked.

Before anyone could elaborate, a bell rang—causing Hiei to start and curse—and everyone in the hall began to leave.

"Time to head to the torture chamber," Ron said, heaving a sigh that seemed to let forth all the sorrows of the ages.

It turned out that Potions was one of the few subjects that didn't require magic, and therefore, it was one of the few subjects in which the Tentei could participate. But there was a problem.

The class was held in the dungeons, which they _hadn't_ known.

"Where are we going?" Kurama asked uneasily as Harry, Ron and Hermione led them down the stairs into a dimly-lit hallway.

"Class," Hermione replied. "In the dungeons."

Just that one word was enough to get Kurama shaking. Hiei took his hand and smiled reassuringly, and Kurama squeezed it hard, as if that action alone could banish the fear.

And maybe it would have been able to do so, if the teacher wasn't so…creepy.

That was really the only word to describe him, in Hiei's opinion. As everyone went into the classroom, he swept over to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama, reminding Hiei of an overgrown bat. Kurama's hand tightened in his. The room was utterly silent, unlike any classroom they'd been into yet.

The professor spoke. His voice was very quiet, but the words carried in the silent dungeon. His voice was deep and icy, and made Kurama shiver. "I am Professor Snape. Welcome to Hogwarts." Something about his voice indicated that they may have been welcome at the _school_, but he really would have preferred it if they were _not_ in his classroom. He gave each new student a once-over, and when his eyes flicked over Hiei and Kurama's interlocked hands, his lip curled.

"Why are you shaking, boy?" he snapped at Kurama. "I assume you _are_ going by that gender." The students with green tags on their robes (there were some with red—Gryffindor—and some with green. The concept of house colors had been explained already.) laughed maliciously.

A low rumble sounded from Hiei's throat, but Snape ignored him. Kurama squeezed his hand in a gentle warning and said, "Y-yes…"

"I'm sorry? I don't speak that language," Snape said. Hiei growled again, louder this time, and he also threw in a death glare.

Kurama's grip got a bit firmer, and he said, "I'm sorry. _Yes_."

"Yes what? I am afraid that in waiting for a reply, I forgot what it was you were supposed to reply _to_."

Kurama's face went slightly red with anger, and he answered in a clear, carrying voice, showing not a trace of embarrassment. "Yes, I go by the male gender, but if you wish for me to act as a woman, then very well. Of course, I can't think of _why_ you would want me to put up that kind of front, unless, perhaps, you wish to date me yourself, but do not want to be ridiculed?" he said, barely making the last part sound like a question.

Laughs sounded around the room, mixed with the indignant yells on Snape's behalf from the students in his House. Hiei, able to understand because of the translator, smirked. Snape, though, was livid. Seemingly unable to control his actions, his fist lashed out and connected with Kurama's chin with a loud smack. Kurama, with instincts born from living in Makai for over a thousand years, didn't move or make a sound as blood trickled from his lower lip.

But Hiei did.

With a roar, the Jaganshi shot at Snape. No one saw what happened; one second Hiei was standing next to Kurama, staring at Snape with undisguised contempt, and the next, he was behind the professor. His arm was around Snape's neck, choking him, bending him painfully backward, while his free hand wrenched Snape's arm up behind his back. Snape's other hand was held at his own throat, under Hiei's arm.

The room went deathly still as every single person waited, with bated breath, for what was coming next.

Hiei glared down into Snape's black eyes. It didn't matter that he couldn't speak English. The menace in his eyes said clearly that he would have no qualms about snapping Snape's arm like a twig, or, worse, crushing his windpipe into mush.

Hiei spoke quietly in Japanese, and Kurama's translation proved Snape's assumption. "He says that if you ever strike me again, you will be begging for mercy long before you die."

Hiei spoke again.

"He demands an apology to me," Kurama translated.

Snape's eyes widened, and he hissed, "It is you who owes me the apology!"

Hiei's arm tightened around his neck, and he cried out as his arm was bent at an even more painful angle. Snape, though, remained stubbornly silent.

"Let him go, love," Kurama said suddenly without bothering to switch to Japanese. "He isn't worth it."

"Worth _what_?" Hiei snapped. "One squeeze and I could kill him, right now."

Kurama did switch to Japanese then. "Love, you know you can't kill humans. Kurama would put you back on probation, at best. At worse, you'll end up in Reikai jail."

"Hn. The toddler could do _nothing_ to me," Hiei said. But, seeing the worry in Kurama's eyes, he threw Snape away from him. "Tell him that my warning stands," he said, glaring at Snape with disdain.

Kurama translated, and Snape's lip curled in distaste again. "Take your seats, all of you," was all he said. But as Hiei threw him one more death glare, as Kurama guided him gently after Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he gave them a look that said clearly, "You have a fight on your hands after crossing me."

Hiei smirked, and shot him a look that said in reply, "I like it that way."

XXX

"That was _awesome_!" Ron said, practically skipping down the corridor half an hour later. "Malfoy was absolutely cowed, and you didn't even _touch_ him!"

Hermione seemed to be fighting back a smile as she said, "But he shouldn't have done it, Ron! He's going to get into trouble!"

"And how's that work, eh?" Yusuke demanded, outraged. "He hit Kurama first!" He gestured at the kitsune, who was lagging behind with Hiei, insisting—again—that he was fine, and that Snape hadn't hurt him much at all.

"Yeah, and he's _really_ gonna tell the _truth_ to Dumbledore," Ron said. "And he'll get his _pet _to back him up…why isn't that rat following us, anyway?"

Harry chuckled. "Hiei scared him too much. He seems to think that Hiei will kill him _and_ Snape if he comes near us, for some reason…"

Hermione couldn't help it—the stern look left her face as she exploded into laugher. "You told him _that_?"

"Now would _I_ do that?" Harry asked innocently, feigning a look of shocked hurt.

"Yes."

"Good girl." Laughing, Harry called back to Hiei and Kurama, "Come on, guys, it's Divination next!"

"Not with _that_ professor…the one I met at breakfast?" Hiei asked.

"Yep," Ron said with a grin.

Hiei groaned.

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_Author's Note: Okay, there you go! Another chapter! Now, down to author business: I apologize to those readers who wanted a lot of crap between Draco and the Tentei. I wanted it, too, but I'm not so good at portraying the mean people, and I don't want to do it anymore than I have to. So though Draco will be in this story, there won't be a lot going on with him. I'm sorry. I also need the opinion of my reviewers. Should I continue with the issues between Hiei and Snape, or should I just kind of forget that? Send me an answer in reviews before I get too far ahead of myself!_

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**Reviewers' comments**:

**MikaSamu**: Hey, I was wondering when you'd review! And here's some more for ya! Do you really think Kurama's problems work? I wasn't sure if they did! You have now made me a very happy authoress. Just tell me if I overdo it, though, okay? Thank you!

**YokoYoukai**: The beginning of this chapter holds answers to your questions! And I'm happy too!** dances** I _hated_ myself for making them fight! Anyway, thanks for the review! And _must_ you keep trying to hack the authoress into little bits!? **runs away**

**Pyro**: Yep, the "Golden Trio" found out! Kinda anticlimactic, though…**stares at fangs** I know I've asked before, but…do you happen to be friends with YokoYoukai over there? **points at person with saber** Because both of you seem kinda intent on _killing the authoress_!

**Koritsune Dragonrider**: Don't you _hate_ it when people say things are "just a phase"!? I know I do…anyway, I plan to try and become a novelist, or at least keep writing stories until I die! And thank you for the advice about flamers. I never really did get why people flame stories. If you don't like a story, simply _don't review_. I have never sent a flame in my life, though there have been many stories I don't like, and I don't ever plan to! And also, I haven't heard of Big & Rich…I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the review!

**shiorifoxiesmom**: Thanks for the review!** dances** **happily because the fox and the firebaby are back together**

**StormAZ**: If you liked that part, how'd you like Hiei's reaction? I thought it was fairly amusing myself…**gets hit on head by hammer that falls out of the sky** HEY! I WAS NOT BRAGGING, KOENMA! **rubs head **Anyway, thanks for the review!


	7. The Story Everyone Wants To Hear

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except the plot and Kou, and I am getting tired of saying so.

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Chapter 7

"Yusuke, what did you mean this morning when you said that your job is painful sometimes?" Harry asked, running a rag over his broomstick in the empty dormitory that evening. He had just spent an hour patiently explaining to Hiei _why_ anyone would want to play a game where you flew at extreme heights and threw a ball back and forth to each other. He didn't understand why anyone would want to do this on the _ground_, much less while trying to keep your balance while at least fifty feet above the ground. Then, after Harry explained this well enough for Hiei to be reasonably satisfied, he had to clarify the reason they used _brooms_.

"If Kurama's mother were here, she would say that brooms are used for cleaning, not for flying," the hiyoukai maintained stubbornly.

Now, though, he and Harry had agreed to disagree, freeing Harry up to open the conversation to this new subject. He studied Yusuke intently and waited for his answer.

Yusuke looked slightly lost as he looked from Kuwabara to Kurama to Hiei, as if trying to decide from their faces how much to tell. Then he shrugged and said, "It was just hard to kill, is all."

"But weren't the ones you killed the enemy?" Ron questioned, confused.

Yusuke looked down at his hands. "Oh, no," he said softly. "There were many people we didn't like, but the _enemies_ were few."

"Then why did you kill them?" Hermione asked. She had joined them in the deserted dorm, even though girls weren't allowed.

"We had no choice," Kuwabara answered.

"_What_?" Harry asked incredulously. "You were taking _lives_! How could you not have a _choice_?" He glared around at all of them.

Yusuke slammed his fist into the table. "Don't treat us like the bad guys! They were threatening my girlfriend's _life_, damnit! And Kurama's mom, and Kuwabara' sister, and Hiei's—" Yusuke made an odd choking sound and looked quickly to Hiei, who had gone rather rigid. "Well, they threatened our friends," he finished somewhat lamely.

"Who?" Ron asked, as Hermione gave Hiei an odd look. "Who threatened you?"

"Our archenemies," Yusuke replied quietly. "The Toguro brothers."

"And what did they make you do?" Ron asked, evidently unable to resist pressing them for details.

And that was how Yusuke ended up telling Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the Dark Tournament. But to explain it _properly_, he had to go all the way back to the beginning, to that moment when he was fourteen—the moment that changed his life forever…by ending it.

If the three were surprised that Yusuke had died once, they were shocked to hear that _Kurama_ had actually joined forces with Hiei in a quest for world domination. They listened in wide-eyed silence as Yusuke recounted most of his life from the moment the car had hit him that fateful day, to the moment he and Kuwabara had officially gotten Hiei and Kurama on their side in Maze Castle, straight through the Dark Tournament. How he managed to tell all of that clearly and smoothly without revealing about Hiei and Kurama's pasts was a mystery to them all.

Apparently, though, his attempt to keep the light focused on himself instead of the two youkai was a bit more obvious than he'd hoped. He had just finished telling how he'd finally beaten Toguro when Hermione asked mildly, "So why are you trying to make us forget that Hiei and Kurama were there as well?"

Yusuke froze like a deer caught in headlights. "Well…er…um…I…"

"He doesn't want you all to badger us about ourselves," Kurama said. "He doesn't want us to have to recount our own lives if we do not want to."

"Why don't you want to? What'd the big secret?" Harry asked. "Because whatever it is, you can trust us."

"I have nothing to hide from you," Kurama said slowly. "Just things I do not think you would find very interesting."

"I'm interested!" Hermione said at once. Ron rolled his eyes, but Hermione ignored him and kept her eyes on Kurama, who smiled at her eagerness.

"I was a demon once," he began. "A kitsune—a spirit fox. My given name was Yoko, my family name Kurama. I was also a thief—a very skilled thief. I spent my days as a bandit, pillaging many fortresses and strongholds. My dream was to become the greatest demon in all of Makai…and I worked my way up toward that goal quickly. Many feared and revered me. Unfortunately, this caused me to become cocky, thinking that no one would ever be able to stop me. But one night, I was caught during a robbery. I was fleeing the fortress when I was shot, and fatally wounded.

"Something you must understand is that I was selfish then. When I felt my life energy weakening so quickly, the only thing I could think about was saving myself, at any cost. So, I went to the human world. There, I found a woman who was with child. Thoughtlessly, I joined souls with the unborn boy, with the idea that I could return to Makai once my powers were developed.

"My plan should have gone off without a hitch. The human, Shiori, raised me as Shuuichi Minamono, without any idea of what I truly am, and for over a decade, I lived in her home and planned my escape, all the while treating her as an inferior person.

"But then something I never could have foreseen happened. It would later prove to be both a blessing and a curse—my strongest asset and my possible downfall." Kurama smiled and fingered the chain he always wore around his neck, along with his Hiroseki. "I grew to love two people. One I realized at a younger age, but the other I would not realize or confess until the age of sixteen."

Next to him, Hiei smiled.

"Now, this newfound love for my mother was a new feeling to me, and one I was rather afraid of. That fear caused me to proceed with my plans as if nothing could stop me. And then, when I was fourteen, my mother fell ill. It was deadly, and the doctors held little to no hope for her survival.

"I have never been one to take things lying down, and when I found out that she was dying, I took matters into my own hands, vowing to save her.

"I will not go into detail, but I found a way to save her, at the cost of my own life. It was a sacrifice I was willing to pay, but it was not one Yusuke planned to _allow_ me to pay. Instead, he offered up his own life, and because of his willing sacrifice, we were both spared. And since that time…I have been on his side," Kurama finished. He sat back and waited for someone to say something.

Hermione was the first to speak. "_That_ is an amazing story. Does your mom know now?"

Kurama nodded. "I told her a few months ago. And…she accepted it." He sounded bewildered over the fact even now.

"How did you and Hiei meet?" Harry asked.

A smile broke across Kurama's face.

"If the next words out of your mouth are…" Hiei muttered.

"Hiei tried to kill me," Kurama cut him off.

"OH, BY INARI-SAMA!" Hiei swore. "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE YOU, DAMNIT!"

Chuckles resounded around the room. "Is your mom nice, Kurama?" Harry asked, stowing his broomstick under his bed.

Kurama's smile grew soft. "Yes, she is. She's…very nice," was all he said, for lack of words that could possibly describe his mother.

"Are your parents nice, too?" Ron asked Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Kuwabara didn't reply. He never talked about his parents, to _anyone_.

Yusuke, though, said, "My dad skipped out when I was born, so I never met him. My mom might be pretty cool if she stayed sober long enough to think straight for a few minutes."

His voice wasn't angry or sad, just resigned. He had moved past _those_ problems long ago…or at least he liked to think so. Most other people thought so, too. The only ones who were close enough to him to know the truth were Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei and Keiko. Of those four, one _pretended_ not to care, one was too respectful to press Yusuke, and the other two had simply been asked by Yusuke not to say anything about it. So, the subject was respectfully avoided.

Ron started to say something to Yusuke, but Kuwabara shook his head, ever so slightly, and Ron turned to Hiei instead.

Kurama, guessing where the topic of conversation would head next, made a violent motion to silence the redhead, but too late.

"What about your parents, Hiei?"

Silence fell over the room. Yusuke and Kuwabara were almost cringing, visibly, and Kurama gave Ron a very un-Shuuichi-like-but-very-Yoko-like glare.

Hiei, noticing this, said, "Stop acting like I'm going to break."

"We know _you_ won't, but _he_ might," Yusuke muttered.

Ron looked uneasy. "What'd I say?"

Hiei shook his head. "Nothing. You said nothing wrong. In answer to your question…I don't know. I never met either of them."

"They're dead?" Hermione asked quietly.

Hiei shook his head. "It's more…complicated than that."

"Do you want to tell us?" Harry asked.

Hiei paused, trying to decide whether or not to tell the story that he had only ever willingly told three people.

"I was born in the Ice World," he began. "It's an…island…about a mile in the air over Makai. The people of that world—the Koorime—are all women. They consider men a sort of taboo. Koorime reproduce asexually, which is how they keep their race free of males. It is Koorime law that men are to be avoided at all costs.

"However, one woman broke that law. She ventured off the island, and she met a male demon. Months later, she birthed…twins. A girl, named Yukina, and…a boy."

"You," Hermione said.

Hiei nodded. "When it became known that my mother had lain with a man, there was an uproar. By the time I was a week old, my name had changed from Hiei to the Forbidden Child. They all said it was bad luck to have a boy on the island, even an infant boy, and that in order to keep their race safe, they had to…get rid at me.

"My mother begged them. She offered to take Yukina and I and leave the Ice World. But the Koorime would not listen. They bundled me up in specially warded cloths, along with the sacred gem given to every Koorime child at birth by their mothers, and then they…they threw me off the island. Literally."

Hermione gasped aloud. Hiei ignored her, and continued. His voice, which had been halting and shaky at first, grew stronger as he relived those horrible days.

"I didn't die, as I should have. I don't know how I survived. I just forced myself to keep on existing. I was still lying where I had landed when I was found by a band of thieves. They saw the stone my mother had given to me clenched in my fist, and they tried to take it. I bit one of them, and when they finally figured out that they weren't going to get it, they simply took the whole package.

"The details of my life would not interest you, but to make several different stories very short, as I grew, I became obsessed with finding my mother and the land I would have called home. I vowed to find her, sacrificing whatever was required to do so.

"And there were sacrifices. I gave up the bandits I had come to call family, I sacrificed peace, and I very nearly sacrificed my sanity. All for nothing.

"After long years of searching, I finally succeeded. As soon as I found out the location of my home, I traveled there, as fast as possible.

"But the people of that world wanted nothing to do with me. As soon as they saw a man in their midst, they scattered. I had gone there intent on killing the ones responsible for my hellish life, but upon seeing them, my anger and thirst for revenge, long held close to my heart, my only reason for leaving, was replaced by something entirely new—pity. Pity for the very people I had wanted to torture and kill for so long. Because I knew that they had been almost as unhappy as I had been since infancy, and they had felt it for far longer. They were a cold, fearful people, shutting out happiness and security for fear.

"However, there was one part of my mission that I could not allow my pity to cloud. I had to find my mother, the only one who had ever been on my side. And I completed that part of my excursion." Hiei's voice held a sorrow and a bitterness that made all the others in the room want to retch.

"In my search for answers, I found Hana." (AN: I don't remember her actual name.) "She was my mother's best friend and the only woman in the village who hadn't run from me. In answer to my inquiries, she led me to a grave marker, and then she told me that the woman had killed herself a few years after…after her son was exiled from her world, not knowing that I was that very son.

"My world grew cold and dark in that one moment. Right then, I banished all emotion. I allowed myself to feel no anger, sorrow, pity, or anything else. As I turned away without a word, I remember that she said, 'You're him, aren't you?' When I simply kept walking, I heard her fall to her knees and whisper, 'I'm so sorry…' and then her words were wracked with sobs.

"I left that world without looking back, and I never even thought about finding my father again."

Hiei looked down at his lap and realized, much to his own surprise, that his hands were shaking. He stared at them, unwilling to look up and see everyone's faces.

There was silence in the room, broken after a minute or so by a small sniff. Hiei, looking up, saw that Hermione was crying. "Don't," he said quietly. "Don't cry. I do _not_ want anyone feeling sorry for me. Pity only makes it all harder to deal with."

Hermione hiccupped and wiped her eyes. "I understand, but…"

"I know." Hiei's voice was softer than it had ever been unless he was talking to Kurama, Yukina, or Shiori. "But it won't help me, and it will only make you feel worse. _I_ think that what we all need right now is sleep, not pity. The other dimwitted humans will be up from that 'common room' thing soon, and _you_ are not supposed to be here," he added to Hermione.

"No one will be back up for a couple of hours, but you're right, I'm tired," Ron said. "G'night, everyone." He stumbled to his own bed, followed by everyone but Hiei and Kurama, since it was their bed everyone had been sitting in, and Harry.

"My parents are dead, too, you know," he said quietly.

Hiei's eyes snapped to him.

"Voldemort murdered them…on the same night he tried to kill me, and couldn't. No one except Dumbledore and I know why he couldn't kill me, a one-year-old boy, when he'd killed so many powerful wizards. It was because my parents sacrificed themselves…for me. It caused Voldemort's curse to hit him instead of me, but it broke his power instead of killing him. That's why he's after me, now that he's back to full strength."

"Why are you telling us this?" Hiei asked, a bit sharply.

Harry took no offense at his tone. He said simply, "I always wished I could tell someone who really understood."

XXX

Kurama was woken later by the sound of quiet gasps and hiccups. Confused, he rolled over, and his eyes widened.

Hiei was lying on the corner of the bed, knees pulled up to his chest. His back was to Kurama, and his shoulders were shaking.

Kurama reached out and touched him gently. He started and turned to face the fox, and Kurama gasped softly when he saw Kurama's face streaked with tears. Without a word, he pulled the Jaganshi into his arms. Hiei struggled, and for a moment they were back to before Hiei had confessed his love. But when Kurama didn't let go, Hiei buried his face in his chest and cried.

"Oh, love, it's all right," Kurama whispered. He had a pretty good idea of what had caused Hiei to break like this. "Shh, shh." He held Hiei tightly, lips pressed against his hair.

Hiei sobbed into his chest for a long time, until he had cried himself out. Then he simply lay in Kurama's arms, silent except for an occasional hiccup.

"I miss her, fox," Hiei rasped, his voice hoarse from crying.

"I know, Hiei. I know it's hard. And I wish there was something I could do, but…"

"You're helping right now," Hiei whispered, meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"Why are you _always_ apologizing to me when there's no need?" Kurama asked quietly. "You know that I'll always be here for you, no matter what _time_ it is."

"Thank you, fox. Just…talking about it to them…"

"I know."

"I haven't cried over her for so long…"

"Not since you told _me_ your story, I believe," Kurama agreed. "Did it help?"

"Yes," Hiei said honestly. "But what would really make me feel better would be to go back home to Tokyo…and to see Yukina again."

Kurama kissed his forehead. "I love hearing you call Tokyo 'home'," he said as he began hiding Hiei's tears in his pillowcase.

Hiei gave a hoarse chuckle. "Sentimental kitsune."

"Pyromaniac hiyoukai."

"Shut up."

"I love you."

"Back at you."

* * *

_Author's Note: I FINALLY managed to update! I am so sorry it took so long, but things have been really hectic around here. I had a bunch of big papers due at school, along with all my other homework, plus another fic to work on, and it's just been hard to find the time to update. I got within one page of doing it last night, but then I was dragged away—literally—by a couple of my friends. But enough with the apologies…I updated, so could you guys please, please, PLEASE review!_

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**Reviewers' comments:**

**Pyro**: NO! YOU MOST CERTAINLY CANNOT EAT ME! Because then I can't finish my beloved fanfics! And that just can't be allowed. So go and ask Kei to find you someone to eat! Or Sho…Sho's good too…and you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? **gets weird look **Didn't think so…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Amine**: I know. School does tend to ruin things, ne? Kind of an annoying habit...but now it's spring break! YIPPEE! And I can update more now! YAYS! Of course, the question is: WILL I ACTUALLY UPDATE?! Hope so…anyway, thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

**YokoYoukai**: Okay, I will try to have Hiei and Snape keep fighting. TRY being the keyword, since I just realized that fights could be REALLY hard to put in, especially considering that I already have up to chapter ten written and ready to go. (Though, again, the real question is whether or not I will be too lazy to actually update.) But I promise to try to find a way that works with what I already have written!

**StormAZ**: Thanks for the advice. It really was helpful. But I repeat the things I said to YokoYoukai: I can only try. And Snape, like all the other teachers, already knows about the Reikai Tentei, by the way. But I just wanted him to be a meanie so that Hiei could finally threaten a teacher at Hogwarts. And since Snape's _naturally_ mean, I picked him! Though Trelawney might have been fun, too…


	8. Rather Pointless

_DISCLAIMER: Me + My Property Pertaining To Yu Yu Hakusho equals NOTHING._

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Chapter 8

-_Shuuichi,_

_I took from your last letter that you're settling well at that school I sent you off to (_without_ any choice). I nearly laughed myself silly over the last letter. I can easily imagine Hiei doing something like that to anyone who gave you trouble, and the mental image is something I can see keeping me in a good humor for a long time coming. _

_Not much going on in this corner of the world. I'm still working, obviously (ugh) and trying to beat off the guys. (Don't you dare laugh at me, Shuuichi Minamono. You're not the only good-looking one in the family.) I know you think that a boyfriend would be good for me—don't deny it—but I'm perfectly happy with the two men in my life—you and Hiei. You're all I need._

_And now we move on to the much juicier topic of _your_ love life. You never did tell me how many fan girls you have at that school. And how Hiei reacted to them. I expect a true answer in next week's letter, young man. I also want to know all the details of what's happening between you two. (But keep the conversation PG-13, because my ears are delicate.) _

_I wish that place had phones. I don't like having to exchange all of our news through letters! I want to hear your voice again! But I guess it can't be helped._

_I have to admit, I'm jealous of all those people who get to see you every day, while I sit here in the kitchen and write this, alone. I know this is something you need to do in order to move past all this and get on with your life, and that was why I was willing to let you go so far away. But for the moment, I'm depressed, and so I'm going to go and indulge in some selfish self-pity and a gallon of triple-chocolate ice cream, and just let myself miss you two._

_Give Hiei my love, and know that I also love you more than life, so you'd better get back home safe, and _soon.

_-Your ever-impatient mother_

_P.S. Tell Hiei "lotsa love" and also that if he sends his own letter instead of just adding a note to the end of all of yours, I'll gladly return the favor._

Kurama laughed as he refolded Shiori's letter and slid it carefully into his bag. "Mother sends her love," he told Hiei, who sat next to him at the breakfast table.

"How is she?" Hiei asked around a mouthful of hash browns.

"Fine," Kurama said. "Lonely. She'd like to see more letters from you."

"Hn." But, if Kurama wasn't mistaken, Hiei smiled a little as he said that.

Kurama sighed inwardly. He missed Shiori. The Tentei had been at Hogwarts for over a month now, and he was beginning to think that nothing would _ever_ happen.

In all those days, Koenma had only contacted them once, in a letter brought by Sora, two days ago, to tell them that Mukuro hadn't contacted him, and Kou had only sent a letter explaining that he had found a few A-class willing to join him, but no S-class. Most of them had already joined Voldemort. Kou had taken his small band to join Mukuro's army in Northern Makai, to train, in the small hope of being able to overtake and defeat some of Voldemort's newest recruits during their march to Voldemort's hidden stronghold. He also hoped to capture one soldier alive and force him into revealing the location of the fortress.

"Bottom line is, this has turned from a relatively small battle to a war that threatens all three worlds, and we're losing ground," were Koenma's grim parting words.

After reading the letter, the Tentei had immediately sent a reply to Koenma, asking him if he had any word on Voldemort himself.

And now it seemed that they already had a reply, for Sora had dropped off _two_ letters that morning. One was Shiori's, and the other was a blank envelope bearing only Koenma's wax seal. Yusuke, who had been waiting impatiently for Kurama to read his letter, now grabbed Koenma's and tore it open. He scanned it, gave a grunt of annoyance, and passed it over the table to Kurama. It was short, irritated, and to the point.

_Obviously, I have no leads at all on the guy. If I did, I would have sent that information in my last letter, which you received only _two days_ ago. I know you are all impatient to do your thing and get back home. However, I _cannot_ help it if I have already told you all I know. As soon as I have something solid for you to go on, I will _let you know_. Until that time, kindly be patient and wait there, and do not bother me with pointless questions. And above all, _stay at the school. _I have far too much on my mind right now to be worrying about you four getting restless and running off to fight on your own. I promise, if you stay calm, I'll contact you as soon as I get a lead. _

Hiei, who had been scanning the note over Kurama's shoulder, swore at the "pompous, stuck-up infant brat." Kurama put a hand on his shoulder to quiet him.

"Well, we heard _that_ loud and clear," Hiei grumbled. "Stupid toddler."

"Are we gonna do what he said?" Kuwabara asked.

"We really have no choice," Yusuke told him.

"We do have one…" Hiei began quietly.

"No, Hiei. We've talked about this. You aren't going to find Mukuro and Kou," Kurama said firmly. "It's dangerous. You will stay here, with me, and you won't scare me again with talk about leaving to be Mukuro's second-in-command again, even if it's only for a little while. Are we clear?"

"But…if I can train them best…"

"_Are we clear_?" Kurama repeated forcefully.

Hiei nodded. "All right, fox. I didn't want to go, really. I just…"

"Felt obligated. I know."

The bell rang, signaling the end of breakfast and the start of classes. As Kurama stood up, he carefully rolled his right shoulder forward and back, feeling a pang of satisfaction when there was only a twinge of pain. The last month had done much to set his arm on a healing path. He still felt pain at any sort of movement, but his arm was healing, if slowly.

And so was his mind, with Hiei's help. He didn't know why, but this place did him good. Maybe it was meeting others whose lives had been changed drastically by Voldemort, and knowing that he wasn't alone. Maybe it was the idea of finally putting this part of his life behind him.

And maybe it was just Hiei.

The hiyoukai had been at his side constantly since they'd ended their fight. He had seemed different somehow…softer. Though he had been caring before the fight, now he had become even more so. He was gentle and understanding and kind, and he took every chance he was offered to hold Kurama in his arms. And he had stopped making threats against Voldemort, or, in fact, talking about him at all, seeming to understand that mention of the wizard only made the fox more nervous.

But the real change was in his eyes. They held a soft glow whenever he even glanced at Kurama now, and his love was clear to the world in those moments. He had thrown even the smallest reservations about showing affection in public out the window completely.

"What are you thinking about?" Hiei asked into his ear, coming up behind Kurama and taking his hand.

Kurama smiled and squeezed his hand. "You," he replied, pulling Hiei over to the wall, out of the way of the crowd. He spread his legs in an upside-down V, arm around Hiei's waist, and balanced so he could look his love in the eye. "Have I told you I love you yet today?"

"You have, but I wouldn't object to your repeating it," Hiei told him, closing the distance and kissing him.

"Get a hose, someone," a loud voice said behind Hiei.

Hiei dropped his head onto Kurama's shoulder and growled quietly, and Kurama glared at the blond, pale, smirking boy who was taunting them.

"I swear to God, I will send that boy to Hell and back," Hiei muttered.

Kurama sighed and said, out of habit, "Don't kill humans, love."

"The look on your face right now completely contradicts that order, fox," Hiei said dryly. "What happened to staying _away_ from us?" he yelled at Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy smirked and melted into the crowd without replying. Hiei gave another growl and said, "He killed the mood, damn him."

Kurama sighed and put an arm around Hiei's shoulders. "It's time for class, anyway."

Hiei groaned.

"What were you guys talking about that got you so upset at breakfast, Kurama?" Harry asked as they walked into the Potions classroom.

"Oh…just…work stuff," Kurama said.

"Could you be a _little_ more vague?' Hermione asked in exasperation.

Kurama shrugged. "Nothing to tell. Koenma just told us he's got nothing, so just be patient and wait for news."

Ron looked skeptical. "_That_ upset you?"

Kurama shook his head. "What upset me is no longer a problem."

"But what…"

"It's _nothing_," Kurama repeated.

More questions were cut off when Snape swept into the room. He curled his lip derisively at Hiei and Kurama as he passed. He was _still_ livid that the two hadn't gotten into any trouble over the incident of their first meeting. He caught Hiei's eye for a short moment, sneering, before simply deciding to ignore he and the kitsune completely, as he frequently ignored Harry.

Which was fine for both Hiei and Kurama, who were then free to be lovey-dovey all through class without Snape saying anything.

Draco Malfoy, however, was another story entirely. He had eventually gotten over his fear of Hiei, and now he spent every spare moment tormenting him and Kurama. Most of the time, they managed to almost convince themselves that the cretin didn't exist, but there were days when he refused to allow them a moment's peace. On those days, it was only Kurama's insistence that he stay out of Reikai prison that kept Draco from an oh-so-timely death.

"That kid makes _Yomi_ look nice," Hiei commented to Kurama as class started.

"Who's…" Hermione began.

"One of our cases," Hiei interrupted. "And that's all you need know."

"English, Hiei, speak _English_," Kurama chided. "You've improved greatly in the last few weeks."

"But why?" Hiei asked. "They have the translators…"

"Because you need to _practice_," Kurama said firmly. "Now, English!"

Hiei sighed. "Fine. Slave driver."

"Stubborn mule," Kurama retorted.

"Baka kit—_stupid fox_."

"Crazy pyro."

"You just have to have the last word, don't you?"

"Yep."

"Why do we always do this?"

"Because it's fun and I always win."

"I love you."

Hiei smiled. "See?"

"Shut up."

"I love you, too."

Hiei sighed as he toyed with his fork at dinner that night.

"What's the matter, love?" Kurama asked.

"What?"

"You look sad," Kurama explained.

"Oh…nothing. I just…" Hiei sighed again. "I want to go _home_, fox!"

"Oh. You, too?" Kurama asked, spreading butter over his bread.

Hiei nodded, even though the question had been rhetorical. "Why hasn't anything _happened_ yet? If something _did_, maybe we would have gone back by now!"

Kurama sighed. "I don't know. I want to go home as much as you do, but…" He shrugged helplessly. "We'll just have to stick it out. Can you do that?"

"For you, I think I can try."

"Good. Now eat your steak."

Hiei nodded and obediently picked up his fork.

A comfortable silence fell between them.

But it was shattered when a scream pierced the room, effectively silencing every student and teacher.

"ONIISAN!"

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**Reviewers' comments**:

**Goma Ryu**: Of course I didn't give up! I love all my fics too much to ever quit one in the middle! Thanks for the review, by the way!

**KoveAiden**: I can only try to put Draco in a lot. But I'm not very good at writing about mean people…I'm sorry. I promise to try, though! Thanks for the review!

**Amine**: Mine started on the 21st and it ends on the 30th. And I updated! There! No wrath! Please! **hides in invisible place that no one will ever know about**

**MikaSamu**: Snape…I have mixed feelings on Snape. Sometimes I like him, other times I want nothing to do with him. So I honestly don't know _what_ to do. I'll just play it by ear, I guess. Thanks for the review!

**Jessica**: Thanks for the review!

**shiorifoxiesmom**: Thanks for the review and I will try!

**StormAZ**: Yes, yes, poor Hiei would have been hugged! Tee hee hee…I should do that sometime…thanks for the review, it was great as always!

**YokoYoukai**: Thank you! I could have looked on the DVDs but I was too lazy…and the only reason I keep fics on paper is that it gives me something to do at school since I'm not popular enough for people to look at, let alone talk to. (Which is a great, great relief, by the way…)

**Pyro**: I don't WANT to be eaten OR in pain, so DON'T GO THERE! And thanks for the review even if you ARE intent to kill!


	9. It Will Get Interesting Again Soon, I Pr...

_DISCLAIMER: This is a simple concept: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING._

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Chapter 9

Hiei dropped his knife and fork and jumped up so fast that he nearly fell over backward. He turned just in time to catch the figure hurtling at him. "Yukina…" he murmured, sounding dazed. "Yukina, what are you _doing_ here?"

"Koenma-sama said I could come!" Yukina told him, hugging him back. "I learned that you were here, and I begged Koenma-sama to let me join you! I missed you, Oniisan!"

Over Yukina's shoulder, Hiei stared at Dumbledore, who winked at him. Hiei smiled slightly at him and said, "I missed you, too." He gave her one more squeeze, stepped away, and led her to the table, listening to her chattering in Japanese.

Kurama hugged Yukina as she sat down. "It's good to see you, too, Yukina."

"You, too. Thank you for keeping my surprise a secret," Yukina said.

Hiei's eyes snapped to Kurama. "You knew about this?"

Kurama grinned, but didn't say anything.

Yukina giggled. "I told him about it in a letter I sent him in secret."

"And the Detective and the Fool…"

"Knew about it, too," Yusuke replied, ignoring Kuwabara's indignant spluttering. "And the three we're staying with. Yukina, meet Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter," he added, tilting his head to each of the three in turn, who smiled in greeting.

"Exactly how long have all of you been cooking this up?" Hiei demanded.

"A couple of days or so," Kurama replied. "Since Yukina got back to the Ningenkai. When she sent me a letter with her idea in it, I was all for it, since you were missing her so much, so I talked to Dumbledore about it, and he gave her a job helping Madam Pomfrey."

Hiei smiled, leaned over, and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"Do you speak English?" Hermione asked, picking up the nearest empty plate and piling food onto it.

Yukina nodded as Hermione set the plate in front of her. "Thank you, and yes. I learned English from Ms. Genkai, the woman I lived with."

"So you're Hiei's little sister, eh?" Ron said. "I expected you to be…different, somehow."

Yukina cocked her head slightly to the side. "Different how?"

"Oh, I don't know. Less…polite. Colder."

Yukina looked confused. "Why would you think that?"

"He thought you would be like the rest of the Koorime," Hiei explained. "Like the ones who threw me off the island."

Yukina looked sadly down at her plate. "You told them, then?"

Hiei nodded once, tightly.

"Weasley-san—_Ron_—I promise you that I am not like all of those women," Yukina said softly.

"I'm sorry," Ron said. "I didn't mean to insult your race…"

"No, no, it is true. They were wrong to exile my brother, and I am ashamed to say that I was once one of them." There was true sorrow in her voice. "And yet…I still travel there, even though they shun me out of shame of having one of their own living among humans. I cannot explain why, but…that world is still a part of me, and even thought I am ashamed of it, I must face it. And so I force myself to go there, and be civil, even thought every time I look upon their faces, I wish for them all to feel the pain they caused you tenfold." Yukina spoke only to Hiei now, though she was aware that the others still listened. "That was why I went there four months ago," she whispered. "That is why I always go. I meant to tell you, but…I did not think you would want me to speak of our family."

"Family," Hiei repeated, the word tasting bitter on his tongue. "_They_ are not my family, Yukina. _You_ are my family. _Kurama_ is my family. Shiori, Urameshi, even the Fool…_they_ are my family. Those women have _never_ been my family, and they never will be. Not where it counts." Hiei's voice dropped almost to nothing. "If only I knew where it _does_ count."

Yukina hesitated, then picked up his hand, pressing it to his heart. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes…it's my heart, but…"

"_That_ is where it counts, Oniisan," Yukina said softly. Hiei caught her eyes and stared into them. She smiled gently, still holding his hand.

The moment was broken by a sniff. Hiei looked across the table and threw his hands up in disgust. "And there she goes again!"

Hermione gave a watery laugh. "I'm sorry. It's just so sweet!"

Hiei shook his head. "I will never understand you."

"Hey, Potter, who's your new friend?" a sneering voice asked from behind them. "She's…decent."

Hiei tensed visibly, and turned slowly to face Draco Malfoy, who was leering at Yukina in a way that made Hiei want to rip his eyes out of his head and feed them to him. "Stay away from her," he said, his voice dangerously low.

"Oh, jealous, Shorty?" Draco asked with apparent relish. "But won't that make dear 'Fox' mad?"

"She is my sister, and you will stay away from her. Even the Fool is preferable for her compared to you. I may be small, but I assure you, my size will be the least of your concerns if you lay a hand on her. Now get out of my sight," Hiei growled, throwing in his famous death glare, which, more than anything the hiyoukai said, always made Malfoy move in the opposite direction at a rather accelerated rate.

"And one more thing," Hiei added as Draco's eyes widened, and he turned to go. "The only one who calls _him…" _He looked at Kurama. "…Fox is _me_."

"Hey, Yukina!"

Yukina smiled politely at the boy who had spoken to her as she followed the Tentei, two wizards, and the witch back to their dormitory after breakfast, but she didn't speak, and she ignored his attempts to get her to wait.

Beside her, Hiei growled. "That's the third guy who's come up to you…"

"Kurama! Hi!"

"And the second guy who's come up to Kurama!" Hiei added. "Does _everyone_ want to take you away from me?"

Kurama frowned. "I hate fan people."

"Me, too."

"I love you, though."

"Back at ya."

Yukina giggled. "Aren't they adorable?" she asked to the world in general as they gave the painting the password. (Yukina squealed in delight at the moving picture.)

"_Must_ you always say that?" Hiei complained.

"Yep."

"I am now convinced that sisters equal evil," he said, but he was smiling, and everyone present saw clearly that the Jaganshi was happier than he'd been in a long time, now that he had the two he loved most at his side.

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_Author's Note: Now did that really take so long? I know it's short, but the tenth chapter is finished, too, and it is ALSO short, and I'm typing it as soon as I update this, so it SHOULD be up today! So don't kill me, all right?_


	10. Told Ya

_DISCLAIMER: I don't remember buying Yu Yu Hakusho or Harry Potter lately, so that would mean I don't own anything. Okay? Okay…_

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Chapter 10

Kurama clenched his right fist tightly, forcing his fingers to dig into his palm and hold.

"What are you doing?" Hiei asked from beside him.

"Physical therapy."

"What the what, now? Hiei asked, using his favorite human expression, which he had picked up from Yusuke.

Kurama let his hand fall open, and clenched it one more time. "Physical therapy," he repeated.

"What kind of ritual is that?"

"It helps my arm heal."

Hiei looked confused. "But didn't taking off the sling mean it was better?"

Kurama shook his head. "It's repaired itself, but the muscles have been out of action for so long that they're weak. I have to rebuild their strength," he explained as he finished and reached over Hiei to turn off the lamp.

Kurama had been dismayed to find this out when he had decided to take is arm out of its sling two weeks before. He had never had a broken bone heal naturally before, and he had expected to be able to pick up his rose whip and use it straight away. But when he went off to a secluded corner of the school grounds to catch up on training, he had been shocked to find that he could hardly hold his weapon.

He had, therefore, asked Yukina to try and help, but she only managed to make a slight difference. So, he had begun his own version of physical therapy, and now, two weeks later, he was figuring out that this could take a while. But he was determined to keep at it, and fight Voldemort at least close to full strength.

The only problem was that the end of term was fast approaching, and there was still no sign of their enemy. In a month, they would all have to go home, and report failure.

Which none of them had never done, and probably wouldn't be too good at.

"Well, I guess coming here really was pointless," Kuwabara said as the group walked into their dorm.

"Yeah, term's up in a week," Harry said.

"Well, that's a week for something to happen," Yusuke said confidently. "Hey, Kurama, Sora's at your window," he added as he sat down on his bed.

"Hm? Oh. Right. Wonder what pointless news we have now," Kurama said dispiritedly as he went to open the window. Sora soared in, dropped her letter on Kurama's bed, and flew back out the window.

Kurama slit the top of the envelope and opened the letter, finding only two lines. He scanned it, and his eyes got wide. When he finished, he passed it wordlessly to Yusuke, who read it aloud.

"Tentei: Mukuro MIA. Most likely dead in battle. Army taken over by Kou. Voldemort heading toward school alone. Kou will take care of the army. Prepare for battle. Koenma."

"Dead."

Hiei's voice was flat, emotionless. Kurama, who sat next to him, felt his eyes fill as he watched his depressed beloved. "I'm sure she's all right, Hiei…"

"No. Mukuro is _never_ MIA. She's dead, and there's nothing we can do about it." Hiei sighed. "Voldemort's men killed her."

Kurama put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, love."

"It isn't your fault. I'm fine. Friendship was kind of strained anyway." But he was lying, and everyone in the room knew it.

"'Niisan, it is all right," Yukina said softly. "She is still alive."

"How do you know that?" Hiei asked miserably.

"I don't."

Hiei looked at her, and then he smiled slightly. "You're right…" he said slowly. "Thank you."

"That is why I am here," Yukina said, speaking the unfamiliar English language in an oddly formal manner. "I am also here to make sure you do not starve. It is time for dinner."

Hiei nodded once and stood up.

"Did we miss something?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Kurama said, smiling. "You all go ahead to dinner. I'll be along in just a second."

"All right, but hurry, all right, fox?" Hiei said, kissing Kurama on the cheek and following the others out.

Kurama sat down on the bed and picked up the note. He studied it, flexing his weaker hand as he did so. Something had been bothering him…why had Koenma been so short? Where were the details? Like the circumstances of Mukuro's disappearance?

"Hello again, Yoko Kurama."

Kurama froze at the ice-cold voice, clutching the note so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and it crumpled in his hand. Slowly, he looked up at the black figure in the corner.

"You lied to me, you know," Voldemort said mildly. "You made me believe that _you_ were Hiei Jaganshi. Now I know why you didn't ever cry…"

"W-what do you want?" Kurama asked, his voice shaking.

"Well, you were so much fun last time that I just had to have some more before you all die. All except the Forbidden One, of course." Voldemort came out of the shadows, and for the first time, Kurama saw his face.

It was a face like death. Cold red eyes, nothing like Hiei's, glared out from a skull-white face. Kurama, ensnared by those chilling eyes, didn't move as Voldemort came toward him. He _couldn't_ move—he was too terrified even to think. His mind and body were completely numb.

Long white fingers touched his face. "Such a pretty one…maybe I _won't _kill you. Maybe I'll keep you…as a toy."

Kurama grew more and more terrified as Voldemort pushed him back to the bed, tearing off his shirt in one movement. But one word ran through his mind, breaking through the white fog of panic, the only word that _always_ brought him comfort, and just before Voldemort grabbed his chin and kissed him roughly, he screamed, "HIEI!"

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_Author's Note: There, two chapters in a day! So ha! But together they only make like four pages…oh, well. I'll just try and get some more up ASAP, though I have to write a chapter for To Be Pure first…that one will probably be short, though…Review, please!_


	11. Voldemort Returns

_DISCLAIMER: If I owned Yu Yu Hakusho, do you really think I'd be writing fanfics about my own famous characters? Well, yeah, probably, but the point I'm trying to make is that I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho._

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Chapter 11

"How are you gonna fight Voldemort?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, he's a really powerful wizard, and he's backed by evil. Even Dumbledore can't hope to defeat him anymore," Harry said. "So how will you four?"

"Easy. We'll launch an all-out attack," Yusuke said. "No one's ever beaten us before when we've fought as a team."

"But what if Voldemort is stronger than anyone else?"

"We'll beat him," Hiei said firmly.

"I have a question," Hermione said. "How are you going to fight him without anyone knowing about it?"

"I don't think we have that choice," Kuwabara said. "We have to kill him when and where he decides to show up."

"Which won't make Koenma happy," Yusuke said with a sudden grin.

"I don't get it!" Harry said. "How can you be so _calm_ about this?"

"Practice," Yusuke said, shrugging. "I panicked before a fight once, and I swore never to do it again after the experience."

It was while they were all chuckling at this that Hiei felt it.

A peculiar lurch in his stomach, a strange acceleration in his heart rate, a sudden tightening in his throat. His hands began to shake uncontrollably, and he dropped his fork.

"Hiei? Hiei, what's wrong?"

Yusuke voice echoed in his head, but he hardly registered it beyond his sudden, untraceable fear. He immediately opened his link with Kurama. /_Kurama, are you all right?/_

No answer for a moment. Then…

::_Hiei…he's back…help…he's going to do it again::_

…Hiei felt a sudden sharp pain in his own jaw, and Kurama fell silent.

Hiei closed off the link and leapt up, panic clouding his vision. Ignoring his friends' exclamations and the stares of all the teachers and students, he raced out of the hall and flitted toward the dormitory, his throat tight with unshed tears.

When Yusuke, Kuwabara, Yukina, Ron, Harry, and Hermione ran into the room a couple of minutes later, they found Hiei and Kurama on the bed. Kurama was missing his shirt, and he had curled up in Hiei's arms, head buried in the fire demon's chest. His shoulders shook with sobs. Hiei was holding the kitsune tightly, whispering to him in Japanese.

Slowly, everyone backed out and went to the common room to wait for everyone to come back so that they could begin to field the hundreds of inevitable questions.

XXX

"How is he?"

Hiei turned to see Yusuke standing in the doorway. "He's asleep," he reported. He held Kurama's hand tightly, and as he spoke, his hand brushed the kitsune's hair away from his face.

"Voldemort…did he hurt him?" Yusuke asked.

"No. I got here in time. But it was close. He was going to…to…" Hiei's throat closed, and he blinked, hard.

Yusuke put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right, Hiei. No one will hold it against you."

Hiei didn't say anything, but he stopped blinking. "Are all the humans down there?"

"Every single Gryffindor student, according to Hermione."

"Go down there and make sure each and every one of them knows that if any stories about him start, I will personally track down whoever started it and make sure that their death is very slow and painful, and that no bodies will ever be found. Tell them to spread the word around the school."

"Will do," Yusuke said, saluting.

As he left, quiet, muffled sobs echoed from the room.

XXX

"I don't know if I can do it, Hiei," Kurama said quietly. "I don't know if I can fight."

Hiei pulled him to his chest and hugged him. "Yes, you can. That bastard has no power over you unless you let him. Besides, you have me. Together, we're stronger than this."

"I hope so."

"Well, I _know_ so."

A comfortable silence fell between them. Hiei began to run his fingers absently through Kurama's hair, an act that Kurama always loved, trying to get the still-tense fox to relax. _Funny how he doesn't resent such close physical contact_…the Jaganshi thought. But he wasn't complaining. If Kurama had been afraid of his touch, he didn't think he'd be able to stand it.

"Hiei?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you. For stopping him."

Hiei held him tighter. "You have no idea how scared I was when I felt you fear. I thought I'd be too late. I'm so glad I wasn't."

"So am I, Hiei. So am I. How were you able to feel my fear, anyway? I thought we could only communicate thoughts."

"It's simple. We're even closer than we were before you were taken prisoner. Our bond is strengthened."

"I love you, Kurama."

"Me, too."

"You love you too?"

"Shut up."

XXX

"Morning, Kurama. Er…how are you feeling?"

Kurama smiled at the nervous-looking Harry. "Don't look so awkward. I won't break."

"You sure? 'Cause…"

"Yes. Hiei helped me see that I'm stronger than this. And while I can't tell you I'm fine, I _can_ say that I will be. So which one told you to wait and 'subtly' find out how I am after last night?"

Harry looked embarrassed. "Is it that obvious?" When Kurama nodded, Harry said, "Hermione. She was worried, and thought I would be the best one to try and talk to you."

"How thoughtful. But I don't need to talk. I know you would understand better than most, but…"

"But you aren't comfortable talking about it with anyone other than that boyfriend of yours."

"Uh…yeah, pretty much. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I understand. Where is he, anyway?"

"Upstairs sending a letter to Koenma. He's even more irate than he was before." Kurama smiled fondly. "You go ahead. Tell the hoards that I'll be fine and there's no need to ask."

"But there aren't any hoards," Harry told him.

"What? Why? Not that I'm not relieved, but Yusuke was sure there would be…"

"Hiei didn't tell you? He threatened the whole school into silence. You'll get a few looks, but nothing more. He's got them cowed. Beats me how he does it."

Kurama laughed out loud, a sound that caused Harry to smile. "I should have known!"

XXX

"I can't believe term's almost over," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I know," Harry said gloomily, stabbing at his pork chop.

"What's the matter?" Kuwabara asked.

"He always gets moody when the end of the year gets close," Ron explained. "He hates going home."

"I hate the Dursleys," Harry said.

"Why?"

"Because they are the reflection of all that is evil!"

"Hey, they never threw you off the cliff," Hiei reminded him.

"Yeah, but they've wanted to more than once," Harry said. He stared miserably into his cup of water for a moment. "All right, we need to change the subject. When do you think Voldemort will turn up?"

"We have no idea. We, conveniently, got zero details in the note," Yusuke said darkly. "It could be any time."

"I just hope we don't have to fight him in the school. That could really do some damage," Kurama said.

"Oh? Like what?" Ron asked with interest.

"You don't wanna go there," Yusuke said. "But it won't be pretty."

"I already wrote Koenma, asking for actual details," Hiei informed them.

"I assume you asked _politely_," Kurama told him mildly.

"Of course," Hiei scoffed. At Kurama's look, he said, "Well, I tried. I didn't threaten him." Kurama didn't say anything, just kept looking at him. "Okay, okay, I threatened him _once_!"

Kurama smiled. "At least you tried." He was reaching out to put an arm around Hiei when he stiffened, eyes wide.

"Fox? What's wrong?" Hiei asked, concerned. "Fox?"

Kurama's voice shook as he spoke. "He's close."

"What?"

"He's close!" Kurama repeated.

"Voldemort," Hiei said quietly.

"I'll tell Dumbledore," Harry said, jumping up.

"He can't do anything, you said so yourself," Yusuke said.

"No, but it's his school. He should know."

As he ran off, Kuwabara asked, "How do you know?"

"I can just feel it, all right?" Kurama snapped. "He's close, and he's eager to spill our blood."

"Close like how close?" Yusuke asked.

"Like out on the grounds close," Kurama said.

"VOLDEMORT IS ON THE GROUNDS!" Ron shouted.

"RON!" Hermione said angrily, as heads turned all over the place. "YOU JUST INFORMED HALF THE SCHOOL TO THAT FACT!"

And sure enough, many people who had heard were quickly passing the word along. Some people began to talk very loudly, the whole crowd slowly grew more frightened, and within a few minutes, pandemonium reigned. Plates, forks, spoons, knives, cups, food and humans went flying as people pushed away from the table and rushed for the door.

"SILENCE!" A loud, firm voice rang over the frantic crowd. As one, the mass of students turned toward their headmaster, who was standing, his face pale and grim. "Everyone will please _not_ panic. All will be well. We have people properly trained to deal with this at any moment, and they will make certain that you are safe. However, as a precaution, no student is allowed to leave this hall until the matter is dealt with." As he spoke, he gave the Tentei a look that said, _What are you waiting for? GO!_

Hiei took Kurama's hand and gave him a look that instantly conveyed his unspoken question. Kurama nodded, squeezed Hiei's hand, and ran with him toward the doors, Yusuke and Kuwabara following closely behind, just before Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

"Hey, Dumbledore said no one can leave!" Someone protested as the group shoved past. They ignored him and continued to work their way through the mob and out of the hall toward the huge double doors that opened onto the grounds.

They didn't make it.

They were just about there when the doors burst open with an ear-ringing crash that shook the school. Two shadows stood in the doorway, framed against the sun's brightness.

The two figures stepped forward, and one raised a hand. Slowly, the doors closed with a dull thud.

"Drama freak," Hiei muttered.

"So we meet again," the man in front said. "And this time, it is to settle all these messy little problems."

"Stop talking and fight!" Yusuke said angrily.

"Eager, Yusuke?"

"Urameshi," Yusuke spat. "Or better yet, just don't talk to me at all. And yes, we're eager to kill you."

"As am I, boy. As am I. But before we begin, I have a small surprise for the Forbidden Child. Come forward," commanded, and the figure behind him stepped up to his side.

"Remove your hood."

It was as he said this that the whole school suddenly came crashing out of the Great Hall, having finally decided to ignore Dumbledore's instructions. Upon actually seeing Voldemort, though, their courage failed and they all huddled together in fright.

Voldemort gave them all an amused glance—if such a man can _feel_ amusement, which is doubtful. "All of you, to the top of the stairs. Now," he said, and Kurama longed to crush him, and the laughter in his eyes, as all the students nearly fell over themselves to obey. He lifted the want he held, and one of the people on the outer edge of the group of hundreds collapsed without a sound. Screams sounded, and Hiei roared in rage as Ron, Harry and Hermione ran over to the fallen boy. Ron picked him up and carried him to everyone else.

Once they all managed to get to the top of the stairs and huddle together to watch in horrified fascination, Voldemort nodded, and the person with him lifted his hood and threw it back.

Hiei gasped and would have collapsed if Kurama hadn't held him steady. Face horribly pale, the Jaganshi stared at Voldemort's companion.

"Mukuro."

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_Author's Note: Well, this fic is drawing to a close. I foresee maybe two chapters left. What will I do after I finish the Series That Swallows My Life? Get started on the other fics I have in the works, I guess…I'll have to find a way to put shounen ai in them, since I have found that male/male relationships are really the only things that get me reviews…so, review, please! And if you can find the time, read and review my other new story, To Be Pure. No one ever reviews that one!_

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**Reviewers' Comments:**

**FireChibi**: Thanks for the review! And yes, I do love fluff. I'm glad you guys don't think it's too much.

**KyoHanna**: Thanks for the review! Sorry it ended up taking so long, and there's really no excuse for that—I just couldn't seem to find the time! Thank you so much for the compliment on my description—that was always one thing I had trouble with. I've been working on it, and it's always nice to find out that your work has paid off, isn't it?

**YokoYoukai**: Yeah, Voldemort is an idiot, isn't he? Ah, well, what can you do? And what do you mean, eaten? That doesn't sound good…uh-oh…I'll have to figure that one out…hey, I have a question for you. Did you see the whole "Mukuro-on-Voldemort's-side" development coming a mile away? I was kinda hoping it would be a sorta-kinda-surprise but looking back, it _was_ sort of cliché…but again, what can ya do? Thanks for the review!

**MikaSamu**: I love cliffes…sorry this chapter took so long to get up, and thanks for the review!

**shiorifoxiesmom**: Sweetish fluffy fluffishness! I love fluff…I live on Cloud Nine, which is very fluffy…thanks for the review and be sure and come back for more!

**Jessica**: Thanks for the review!

**Amine**: See, Kurama's fine…for now…thanks for the review, and please keep reading!


	12. Showdown

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. Except the plot. And…Yeah. That's all._

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Chapter 12

"Are you really that mad at me?"

Hiei's voice rang through the entrance hall, cool and calm, contrasting oddly with his pale, shocked face.

A sneer twisted Mukuro's face into an ugly mask. "You _left_, Hiei. For _him_." She glared at Kurama, who flinched slightly at the pure hatred in her eyes.

Hiei rolled his eyes. "You make it sound like we were married or something. You were my _boss_."

"And _you_ were my best general! I lost it all the day you went back to the human life!"

"And you decided to get back at me."

"Actually, no. Not all things revolve around you. I joined Voldemort long ago. Ticking you off was just a perk." Mukuro seemed to force her face into a condescending smile, though it was far more reminiscent of a grimace of rage.

"I should have seen this coming a thousand leagues off," Hiei said, and a small bit of anger trickled past his carefully composed facade, giving his face a slight red tinge and causing his voice to rise a bit. "I should have been suspicious when you didn't find Kurama, with all those spies you've got! But like a fool, I _trusted_ you."

"And I trusted you."

"To do what? To stay under your wing and do your bidding for the rest of my life? To be your own personal slave?"

"Well, of course! That's why I kept you around!" Suddenly, Mukuro laughed coldly and mirthlessly. "You aren't seriously telling me you thought it was for _friendship_!"

Hiei's jaw tightened. "I'd hoped so. But you were just using me." His voice rose again, and he raised his eyes to meet Mukuro's in a glare. "That's one of the reasons I left, you know. All my life, people have exploited me. On the rare occasion that I dared make a friend, he either wanted to get rich or deliver my head to his superiors. And even though I hoped I was wrong, I felt that you were no different. So, I left and went back to the only people who cared, my only true friends. And now, here you are, trying to kill them." Hiei snorted. "Fate sometimes deals strange hands, as Kurama says."

"Fate. You truly believe this was fate's doing? No, Hiei, fate is not responsible for your inevitable death, or Kurama's, or Yusuke, or Kuwabara's. It is entirely _your_ fault."

Hiei scoffed. "I'm not planning to kill them with my own hands."

"As _fascinating_ as this conversation is, I find myself growing bored. Are you going to dispose of them, or do I have to kill you _and_ the ones you claim to hate? Because that would give me work to do, which would make me _profoundly_ unhappy."

Hiei and Mukuro both started. They seemed to have forgotten about Voldemort entirely.

Hiei dropped back alongside Kurama, who took his hand and squeezed it gently. Hiei's fingers tightened for a moment, and then he drew his katana. Across the hall, Mukuro faced them all squarely, her face now devoid of emotion.

At the top of the staircase, the students watched with bated breath, while teachers stood at the doors to the Great Hall. Dumbledore was in front, his face grave and…frightened. It was this look, coupled with the fact that he didn't raise a hand to try and stop Voldemort, that caused the other professors not to charge the evil wizard.

After all, if Albus Dumbledore did not even try to fight his greatest enemy, whom he had been trying to stop for decades, for whatever reason, others generally tended to keep back.

"Let the fun begin," Mukuro said, taking a dagger out of her belt.

As one, the four members of the Reikai Tentei leapt for the kill.

XXX

Onlookers would, in coming days, be asked to describe the fight and the events beforehand for the Wizarding newspaper. However, the reporters would leave mostly disappointed, for no one saw exactly what transpired, either before of during the battle.

The reasons for this were simple. For one thing, Hiei and Mukuro had been conversing in Japanese, so only seven other people in the hall understood the conversation, and they weren't going to tell anyone.

And for another, when asked to speak of the struggle, most people would say that they saw nothing except for multicolored blurs.

The only half-detailed description reporters got was this:

"I couldn't make out much, but I did hear the Japanese yell weird phrases." When asked to elaborate, the boy said, "One was 'Rose Whip'—he shouted it in English, for some reason. Another one was 'Rei gun!' Just after one of them said that, there was a burst of blue light. But it went off target and blasted a hole straight through the wall! Scared the crap out of all of us. Another boy said something like, 'Spirit Sword' but nothing really happened except that an orange blur got added to the fray. Oh, and there was one more—the guy said it right after what _looked_ like half a sword almost hit me. 'Fist of the Mortal Flame.' I didn't really hear or see anything else for a while."

However, _everyone_ saw the moment that changed the course of the fight, which had, so far, been pretty evenly matched.

It was the moment when a redheaded figure came flying out of the fighting mass, slammed against the wall, and slid, limply, to the floor, where he lay completely still.

XXX

Kurama couldn't pinpoint the moment his arm began to weaken. All he knew was that he was fighting Mukuro along with Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei when the hand clenching his whip slackened suddenly, without his permission or approval. He managed to hang onto it, but by the time he got his fingers back under control and looked back to Mukuro, he was unable to parry the blow aimed at him.

He caught the blow fully in the chest, and it _hurt_. His vision went fuzzy, and he felt himself lifted into the air. He hit the wall hard, and everything went black.

XXX

"KURAMA!" Yusuke yelled, throwing a punch at the dagger-wielding blur that was Mukuro.

"FOX!" Hiei yelled frantically. "NO!" Without thinking, he broke away from the others and flitted over to the fox. Crouching down, he lifted the fox's head gently and checked the pulse in his neck. Feeling a steady beat, he breathed an enormous sigh of relief. "Yukina!"

"Stay where you are," Voldemort ordered softly as Yukina started to descend the stairs. "Do not touch him," he added to Hiei, who had reached out to try and use his Koorime healing powers to restore Kurama.

Hiei glared at Voldemort in hatred and reached out to touch Kurama's forehead.

Just as his fingertips were about to brush the kitsune's skin, the fox went rigid. His lips parted in a wordless scream, and his limbs began to shake. Hiei, panicked, tried to hold him still, but his touch only seemed to worsen the problem. It wasn't until he let go completely that the fox quieted.

Hiei whirled around to see that Voldemort had his 'wand' thing trained on Kurama. He gave a growl of rage and leapt to his feet to go for the wizard's throat.

"HIEI! HELP!"

Hiei gave another growl and turned away from Voldemort, who smirked and lowered his want to watch.

And it might have been a rather interesting sight, too, if it hadn't been for the fact that Yusuke and Kuwabara were about to die.

Mukuro had somehow managed to trap both Yusuke and Kuwabara at once. She held Yusuke tight against herself, dagger at his throat (which sent any perverted thoughts he may once of had straight out of his head) while her foot trapped Kuwabara in a position that would cause his neck to snap if he made the slightest movement.

Hiei glared at her, and a ball of flame formed again in his right hand.

"I wouldn't move, if I were you, Hiei," Mukuro said sweetly. "If you so much as twitch wrong I can kill both of them at once, at the same time my master finishes off that bastard over there."

"Wrong," Kuwabara ground out, and he wrenched himself violently to the side, grabbing Mukuro's leg and throwing her off balance in one movement. There was a sickening crack as Kuwabara's neck snapped under the strain, and then Yusuke used the moment to grab Mukuro's dagger and bury it in her chest. She fell quickly—no theatrics. Just a hateful glare, and then she fell forward, and died.

Yusuke didn't even spare a glance for the body, running to Kuwabara. Hiei followed.

"Come on, come on, you can't seriously be thinking of dying now, of all times, you oaf," Yusuke muttered, his eyes strangely bright.

Hiei crouched down next to the detective. "He's still alive," he reported, noticing the slight, shallow rise and fall of Kuwabara's chest and barely restraining a sigh of relief. "Yukina, get over here!"

"Do not move," a soft, deadly voice said.

Hiei stiffened. _I am sick and tired of his orders…_

He stood, slowly. "Detective, use your remaining reiki to shield the Fool, my sister, my fox and yourself. I'll take care of this."

Yusuke stared at him for a moment, wondering how he would "take care of it" with a broken sword and barely half his ki remaining. But then he looked Hiei in the eye, and at the grim look in them, his jaw went tight, and he simply nodded, resting his hand on Hiei's shoulder for a second before turning his attention back to Kuwabara.

Hiei stood just as Yukina joined them. He smiled briefly at her, and then he left the small group. Kurama, lying on the floor a few feet across the room, began to glow with blue light, as did Yukina, Yusuke and Kuwabara, marking them as protected by Yusuke's energy. Hiei's eyes rested on Kurama's still form, and for a moment, his features softened and tears glistened in his eyes.

But when he turned back to Voldemort, his gaze hardened, and he said, "You have condemned yourself to death with all you have done to my mate," he said in a deadly soft voice.

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Voldemort sneered. "You've been fighting hard and I am very well protected."

"I know. I can feel the shields from here. But there is one way," Hiei said, his face grim.

He spoke English, so at these words, everyone crowded forward, trying to see.

They were rather disappointed to see that Hiei was only unwrapping the bandage on his arm.

XXX

Kurama returned to awareness slowly. The room seemed to be…buzzing? Or was it just his pounding head? Probably the latter…why _was_ his head pounding, anyway?

_Mukuro_.

Kurama gasped suddenly, and his eyes snapped open. He looked around, frantically, and gasped.

Mukuro was sprawled out on the floor, her own dagger protruding from her chest. A couple of feet from the corpse, Yusuke and Yukina were crouched next to the prone figure of Kuwabara, whose neck was bent at an angle it was never intended to be bent to, giving Kurama a feeling of awful, intense fear. All three of them glowed in a surreal blue light, and it was only them that Kurama realized he was, too.

_What in God's name_…

Wincing, Kurama pushed himself to his feet. Ignoring everything around him—indeed, he was completely unaware of it, no matter who was involved. He didn't even _see_ Hiei—he started to stagger over to the small group.

"Kurama, are you all right?" Yusuke asked as the kitsune knelt down next to him.

"Fine," Kurama said, though he was woozy and his arm didn't seem to want to move. "But Kuwabara…"

"He'll be all right," Yusuke said, though his face was pale with fear for his friend. "Yukina will heal him."

"And Hiei. Where's Hiei?"

Yusuke dropped his gaze at that, and a sick feeling welled up inside Kurama.

"Yusuke, where's Hiei?" he asked more urgently. "Where is he?!"

Yusuke pointed. Kurama followed his finger, and his eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"No," he whispered, noticing the rest of the room at last.

Hiei was standing about ten feet away. He hadn't even noticed that Kurama had woken up. He was staring at Voldemort only, as if unwilling to see anything or anyone else. His left hand was unwrapping his right arm from the hand up.

"HIEI, DON'T!" Kurama shouted. "You don't have enough energy! It will kill you!"

Hiei's hand continued its work even as he turned to face Kurama. "Fox," he said quietly. That was all. His eyes said it all. Kurama's own dimmed with tears.

Hiei knew.

Hiei knew his fate, and he was only more determined because of it.

Hiei would die, yes, but he would take Voldemort with him.

He would do it…for his love.

XXX

Hiei blinked hard as Kurama turned away, but his eyes were still determined when he faced Voldemort again. He still hadn't stopped unwrapping his arm, and now a long winding strip lay on the floor, and his arm was practically bare.

When the last of the ward fell away, there was a collective intake of breath from students and teachers alike as they set eyes on the tattoo very few had lived to describe.

"It was like it was _watching_ us," one student remembered later with a shudder. "Like it would kill us with the one red eye it had. Like it was _alive_."

Then Hiei reached up and tore off his headband.

People screamed out loud as the Jagan opened, blood red and angry. Many who looked into it had to look away quickly.

"I thought I would die when I looked into it," a student recalled. "It was as if it could see right through me and tear me apart from the inside out."

Voldemort, though, only laughed. "So this is supposed to scare me? A tattoo and a third eye?"

Hiei nodded calmly. "Even Mukuro never saw this. She asked me never to use it around her because it frightened her so. And though you do not _seem_ worried, you are, and this weapon will seek out that fear. Besides, even on the very small chance that you are not afraid, it does not want fear." As he spoke, the air around him began to crackle with visible, black, electric energy. Slowly, he raised his arm.

"Dragon…" He began quietly, though his voice did not shake and his eyes remained determinedly dry. "Dragon of the Darkness FLAME!"

Though everything had been quite dramatic up to this point, it was the next moment that stayed burned in everybody's memory for the rest of his or her life.

The great Dragon was a truly terrific sight to behold. A massive black flame, it whipped up away from Hiei, and as it did so, the tattoo on his arm disappeared. With an almighty roar, the manifestation rose to the ceiling and looked around, taking in all the people in the room. Hiei felt all its anger and its thirst for blood, and he very nearly broke, as he always did at this point. But he shoved the feeling down and forced the Dragon to turn away from the large group of Hogwarts students to Voldemort, who had lost his thin-lipped smile. Voldemort raised his wand and shouted something. A green beam of light flew toward the Dragon, bounced off it and slammed into the wall. Fear flickered across the wizard's face.

Hiei waved his hand, and the Dragon gave another roar, opened its jaws, and plunged toward Voldemort.

It was over in a second. All the trouble, all the pain, all the death and destruction Voldemort had caused, all the fear he had inspired over the years, and he was killed in a single moment.

A single terrified scream, a horrible sizzling sound, and then ominous silence.

Hiei, the Tentei, and the rest of the school had just enough time to register that there was now only a large black mark on the ground where Voldemort had been—there wasn't even time to raise a cheer—before the Dragon turned on Hiei, just as he had known it would.

XXX

Tears streamed unchecked down Kurama's cheeks as the Dragon turned to face Hiei. Next to him, Yusuke gripped his shoulder so tightly it was painful. Yukina, though, saw nothing, caught in her healing trance. As the Dragon started toward the small figure, Kurama screamed, "HIEI, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME NOW!" But the Dragon didn't slow and Hiei didn't move.

_It's no use_.

"HIEI, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME NOW!"

The words echoed over and over in his head, and brought to mind the image of Kurama sobbing over his corpse. A sudden determination rose in him.

He couldn't leave Kurama.

He had to live.

He raised his arm, and the Dragon slowed. Hiei stared at it, and it halted in confusion. When it realized that Hiei was once more in control of it, its anger rose, and Hiei felt its intense hatred.

Hiei's control wavered, and the Dragon, delighted, started toward him again.

"No!"

Hiei gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, and once again the Dragon halted. But Hiei was losing strength rapidly, and in a moment, the Dragon moved again, swiftly. It stopped, then moved, stopped again, moved…

And each time, Hiei's control cracked even more.

Until finally, the Dragon was able to rush him faster than he could stop it.

He dropped his arm, defeated. He was tired, so tired…

Kurama once again entered his mind. Hiei smiled softly, keeping the image in his thoughts as the Dragon came closer, hovered in front of him, opened its jaws wide…

He heard Kurama's scream, heard Yusuke's curse. Felt a horrible, shooting, burning pain in his chest, and then he fell into blissful, silent, painless oblivion.

XXX

Kou stabbed his sword straight through the heart of his opponent. Jerking the sword out of the fallen demon, he jerked out a small glass ball and flipped a switch. Parrying the blow of his newest adversary with one hand, he held the ball up to eye level and said, "Ji, how does it look?"

A face appeared in the glass ball, the face of his air scout. He looked grim. "They're winning, sir. They outnumbered us two to one from the beginning anyway, but now we're down to less than five hundred men and they have over a thousand still. The only real choice we have now is to retreat—or surrender. And we both know you'll never do that."

Kou shook his head. "No, and I won't retreat, either!"

"General, you may not have it in you, but think about all the men who died today—who are dying even as we speak—in loyalty to you. How many more will die in vain?"

Kou stared into the glass ball for a moment, still fighting his lower-class enemy one-handed. As he delivered the last critical blow to the demon's heart, he said, slowly, as if each word hurt, "Give the order."

But it turned out that to retreat was unnecessary. As Kou flipped off the ball, terrified screams suddenly echoed across the battlefield where, hours ago, days ago, it seemed, the armies of Lord Voldemort and Lord Koenma had clashed. The screams came from the hundreds of enemy demons, and suddenly, without any explanation, every soldier disappeared, and the remains of Kou's command stood alone, still holding their bloodied swords, staring in shocked silence around the silent valley.

Voldemort's army had been defeated.

But Koenma's army hadn't done it.

XXX

The whole room fell into shocked silence at the abrupt end of the battle. Not one person moved. They just stared at the black mark that spanned over a quarter of the entrance hall, the inert form on the floor, and the small group of people staring in horror at the scene.

Then the silence was broken by a sob, and then quick footsteps as Kurama broke away from the group and raced over to the fallen hiyoukai. Still crying, he gathered the body into his arms, burying his face in the Jaganshi's hair, shoulders shaking.

Across the room, Yukina had come out of her trance, and Kuwabara started to come to. Yusuke, though, hardly noticed, as he was too busy trying to put his tears back in check, having already allowed one to escape.

"What happened?" Kuwabara asked, face still pale. "Mukuro broke my neck. How…?"

"I healed you. Yusuke, what is going on? What is the matter with my Oniisan?" Yukina asked softly.

Yusuke, though, said nothing. He just kept watching the scene in front of him, unable to comprehend it.

"His…his life force…it's draining away…" Kuwabara said softly.

Yukina shook her head, tears beginning to fall. "No! Kazuma, don't say that! It isn't true!" But deep down, she felt that her connection with her brother was fading away. She threw herself at Kuwabara, who held her tightly.

Yusuke finally walked over, and touched Kurama's shoulder. "Kurama?"

The kitsune didn't look up, but his hand grabbed Yusuke's and nearly crushed it in its grip. Yusuke crouched down and started into Hiei's face. He looked so…gentle, now. Brushing a tear off his cheek, he grasped Hiei's hand with his free one.

Every student and teacher watching was unable to keep their tears back, but one person's sobs were lost in a tangle of black hair.

* * *

_Author's Note: Okay, I am so sorry, I should have posted this sooner! But I was away for the weekend and on Friday my ride came before I had time to post this! But the good news is that while I was gone I actually wrote down the rest of the fic, so it's just waiting to be posted. Only two more chapters! How in the world will I react to not having this story to write anymore…?_

* * *

**Reviewers' comments**:

**YokoYoukai**: Not there, huh? That's weird…stupid FanFiction web site…grumbles Ah, well, life goes on. Thanks for letting me know, though! And also, if you're oblivious than so am I, because I didn't know Mukuro was on Voldemort's side, either, until the whole scene was written out…and also, I don't think I could ever turn Yukina against the Tentei…there just isn't anything there that could be turned to evil! I might _try,_ but I probably wouldn't get very far…anyway, thanks for the review!

**KyoHanna**: I know how you feel. I hate that it's almost over too…**sad** But at least now I can get started on something new…thanks for the review!

**Jessica**: **dizzy** You talk fast…it took me five minutes to sort out everything you said…and I speak Shawna, so…but what's it matter, you REVIEW! Thank you!

**MikaSamu**: Well, there's your climax! I hope it was worth the forever-long wait! And I'm glad that you don't need shounen ai to be interested in a story…I'm really just going by the increased number of reviews I've gotten since I started writing Hiei/Kurama stories. And what's a Mary Sue story? I think a friend explained this to me once, but…I forgot. Please tell me, so I can try to avoid that, since it doesn't sound good…Thanks for the review!

**shiorifoxiesmom**: Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoyed the final battle as much as I did!

**Pyro**: WHY DO YOU HAVE TO EAT ME? l**ooks at Hiei's dead body** Oh, yeah…that…uh…would you believe me if I said it wasn't me? If I said it was my evil twin? No? That's not good…

**Amine**: I know, I love that quote too. I have this enmity for the government, so it seemed like a good thing to put there, even though it had ZILCH to do with the actual story. Thanks for the review!

**StormAZ**: Yep, Voldemort is toasties! Yippee! But poor Hiei…I feel rotten. And you're right, I always did think Yusuke and Hiei were a lot alike, though they'd both rather fall into a pit of crocodiles or a tank of sharks than admit it! Thanks for the review!


	13. Miracles Happen Once In A While

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything._

* * *

Chapter 13

_If this is the Afterlife_, Hiei thought, _it's really boring. You'd think they'd reward you better forgoing to all the trouble of dying._ He sighed heavily as he looked around at the blackness that was all he could see. _I must have been judged already…I was more of a jerk than I thought._

He started to walk, just to have something to do. There was still nothing around him but darkness, swirling around and around him, in a restless, endless dance. He looked down and saw that there was no visible ground; it was as if he was walking on air and would fall through the black curtain at any moment. He shivered.

"I've only been dead for a few minutes and I think I'm going to die of boredom! I want to _see_ something!" Hiei said aloud, just to fill in the silence. "Like Kurama…"

He cut himself off in a gasp as an image appeared right in front of him. Kurama stared mournfully at him, a tear running down his cheek. Hiei reached out to touch him, but the picture was already beginning to dim.

"No!" Hiei said loudly, trying frantically to pull it back with force of will. "Come back! This place is _boring_!"

But the figure didn't pay him any attention. It grew fainter and fainter, until finally it faded away entirely.

Hiei cursed violently, but fell silent quickly when he noticed that the picture had been replaced by something else.

A small light, no larger than the tip of his finger, floating in the gloom. Because of its size, it was impossible to judge the distance. It could have been a hundred yards or a hundred miles or more.

"At least it's something to investigate," he said to himself, and flitted off.

Or tried to flit.

He couldn't seem to run any faster than half speed.

Hiei sighed. "This sucks," he muttered. "What is wrong with me?" But there was nothing for it. The light might have led to nothing, but it might also hold something interesting. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything else to do.

Grumbling about all the problems with dying. Hiei began to walk. As he did, he began to think. Memories of Kurama came to mind, and suddenly he forgot boredom for sorrow.

He hadn't really realized until that moment what _death_ meant. He had been unintentionally thinking of it as a vacation, like he could go back in a day or two. But as he looked around him, the definition became undeniably clear. This was permanent. He was going to be staying here forever, alone, in the darkness.

Without Kurama.

Those two words repeated over and over in his mind. _Without_ Kurama. Without _Kurama_. _Without Kurama._

At that point, if a passerby walked past (if there were passerby here) he or she would have seen two dark red, almost black, gems fall from a small figure's face and plink quietly to the invisible floor.

Hiei felt as if he had been walking for hours, and he probably had been. Usually, that would not have been something he would have even noticed. But now he was exhausted.

"Probably because of dying," he reflected. "Yet another problem."

It was then that he felt it.

Right in midstride, all of his strength seemed to give out of his limbs. He fell to his knees, and then flat on his back, unable to move. He lay there, fear numbing his mind.

In all his life, with all the injuries he'd suffered, he had _never_ felt _anything _like that.

He lay for a long time, but _how_ long he didn't know. Eventually, his strength began to return, slowly, and as it did, his fear began to ebb. When he felt strong enough, he pushed himself to his feet and continued toward the ever-growing patch of light.

The same thing happened twice more as he walked, and each time it did, it took longer for his strength to return. He wondered what was happening to him, but then decided that it didn't matter. He was dead. Nothing mattered anymore.

As he drew closer to the light, it got more intense and beautiful in the starkness of…wherever he was. Soon, the unbearable ache in his heart was dulled by a powerful longing to reach that light and, hating the ache, he began to focus solely on the longing, and soon it became an obsession. He didn't know what it was or why it was there, but it _had_ to take him to a place better than here.

Minutes turned to hours as he walked, but no matter how drained he was, he refused to stop, and finally, his determination paid off.

Exhausted beyond all coherent thought, more bone-weary than he had ever been in his life, crawling the last few feet, Hiei Jaganshi walked into the pure, sweet, everlasting light.

XXX

"You're all graduating this year, right?" Yusuke asked Harry, trying to keep the fact that he was searching for something to talk about secret.

Harry seized the topic with vigor. "Yeah. We've finish up our N.E.W.Ts—that's Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests—and all that, so now there's nothing left to do but decide what to do after Hogwarts."

Yusuke fought the urge to glance at the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories as he replied. "And have any of you decided yet?"

Harry sighed heavily. "Most of the others have. As for me—I'm headed back to the Dursleys' until I decide. Enough to make me want to hide out here for the summer."

Yusuke gave him a sympathetic look. "Do you really hate them that much?"

"Believe me, it's mutual."

"I'd invite you to stay with me, but my apartment's got only one room…"

"Nah, don't worry. I'll ignore them all summer, they'll ignore me, it's all good."

Silence fell over them, each concentrating on something in the room very hard to keep their eyes from straying to the stairs. Yusuke, staring out the window, glimpsed Yukina and Kuwabara, under a tree. Even at this distance, he could see that Yukina was lying in Kuwabara's arms, face buried in his chest, while he held her, not even trying to comfort her, knowing that it would only make things worse.

"Yukina's crying again," he remarked. His voice shook. "Kuwabara looks so helpless…"

"Can you see Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Not from here."

Harry nodded. "Probably down with Hagrid."

That made sense, Yusuke thought, remembering the huge, friendly man he and the rest of the Tentei had visited a couple of times with Harry, Ron and Hermione. He seemed to be the one the three went to in bad times.

"You know, Hermione's taking this pretty hard," Harry was saying. "She felt like she was finally starting to get close to Hiei, and then—" He seemed to choke, and he paused, until he regained control. Then his sudden curse made Yusuke jump. "Damnit! Even after he died Voldemort managed to make us suffer. Damn him to hell, the bastard!" There was a loud thud as he brought his fist down on the wooden table in front of him.

After a silence, Yusuke said quietly, "You know, I've seen a lot of death. I've seen good men die in battle, in the worst ways one can imagine, while the truly bad and evil got off free. I have fought creatures who could kill a normal human by simply breathing on him. I have enemies on every known plane of existence. But I have _never_, in my life, met a man I hated more than Voldemort. And I don't think I ever will."

A sudden tapping on the window drew their attention. Yusuke, grateful for the distraction, went and opened it. Sora hopped in and looked at Yusuke, confusion clear in her luminous golden eyes.

"I know, girl," Yusuke said softly. "He still isn't letting anyone in there. Even if they're delivering his mother's letters. I'll take it again."

It was difficult to tell how much of this Sora understood, but she held out her foot and allowed Yusuke to take the letter.

Yusuke, sighing, went over and put the letter on top of the other two already sitting on the mantelpiece. "Three letters in one week. She's really worried about him."

Harry heard a gasping sound, and, turning in his chair, he saw Yusuke break down for the first time in a week, and cry.

XXX

Hiei's head and throat hurt.

Actually, upon reflection, _everything_ hurt, including his eyelids, which also felt like there were large two-ton weights holding them down.

Which meant that opening them was certainly going to be an interesting experience.

One that he would put off for the moment, actually.

Therefore keeping his eyes closed, he took stock of everything else.

Well, he had already established that everything was there, because it all hurt like crap, but whether it was all in working order was something he should probably investigate…later. He was also warm, cozy even. That was odd, since his ki seemed to be completely tapped out, which meant that his body temperature should have been considerably lower. He heard nothing except soft breathing.

But wait.

That wasn't _him_ breathing.

His warrior instincts made him forget how weak he felt, and he forced his eyes open and sat halfway up, reaching for a sword that wasn't there.

His body had a violent reaction to the sudden movement, and he began to cough, wracking, severe coughs that nearly sent him spinning back down into darkness. It was only after he stopped and the black shadows in the corners of his vision disappeared that he noticed the pair of arms wrapped tightly around him, holding him against a strong chest. He would have struggled, but something told him that he was in no danger.

Besides, he did _not_ want to have another coughing fit.

His hunch was confirmed when he heard sobbing from the one holding him. Listening closely, Hiei heard gasped and strangled words mingling with the tears. "Angel…you're alive…I thought I'd lost you, baby…my angel…"

Such a wave of relief swept over Hiei that he nearly passed out. He slumped back with a sigh. "Kurama…fox…" he murmured, turning in Kurama's arms. When Kurama didn't look up, just continuing to cry, he frowned and placed his fingers under Kurama's chin, forcing him to lift his head.

When Kurama met his gaze, Hiei lost himself in those emerald-green, tear-filled eyes. Kurama's face was so full of disbelief and confusion and happiness and…vulnerability, that Hiei felt tears gather in his own eyes.

They were both utterly still for a moment. Then, suddenly, Hiei crushed his lips to Kurama's, giving both of them what they needed. Hiei forgot all about the total weakness in his limbs as he combed his fingers through Kurama's hair, cradled his face, held his hand, did everything possible to make sure that he was alive, that this was real.

Finally, the two parted, gasping for air. Kurama was wearing a smile that looked like it would break his face in half. Hiei felt that smile spreading across his own face, and he couldn't help it—he giggled. Yes, Hiei Jaganshi, Forbidden Child, terror of many, _giggled_. The look Kurama was giving him only made him laugh harder, and in a moment, Kurama joined in.

From downstairs, Yusuke and Harry looked up sharply at the laugher. Then they looked at each other as if looking for confirmation. Then, seeing that they both heard the same impossible thing, they leapt to their feet at once and raced for the dormitory steps.

XXX

Word spread quickly. Hiei had woken up; some kind of miracle had occurred; Hiei had "come back to life." Within the hour, the news had spread all over the school, and suddenly the corridor outside Gryffindor Tower was so crowded that Professor Dumbledore himself had to come and give specific orders that none of them were allowed in the boys' dormitory, and only Gryffindors were allowed to enter the common room, as usual.

However, this commotion went unknown by eight people. Up in the dormitory, all was peaceful. Kurama and Hiei were lying in their bed, Hiei curled up against the kitsune's chest, while Kurama stroked his hair gently with his left hand and held him tightly with his right. At the end of the huge bed, Yukina sat in Kuwabara's lap. Yusuke, Harry, Ron and Hermione had pulled up chairs next to the bed and sat in those, listening to Kurama tell Hiei everything.

"You didn't die, as you should have," Kurama was saying. "I don't know how you did it, but at the last second you banished the Dragon, and then passed out. Your life force dropped almost to nothing. Just before you died, I convinced Yusuke and Kuwabara to help me in a last-ditch effort to save you. We joined our ki and jump-started your heart. It was pretty pointless, and we all knew it, but…it gave us something to hope for.

"We took you back to Gryffindor Tower, and waited. We kept saying we were waiting for you to wake up, but really, it was the opposite. We were really waiting for…for…" Here, Kurama choked, and it was a minute or two before he could continue.

"As you began to dwindle away, I got worse, too. I hardly ate or drank or slept. I never left this dormitory and I never let anyone in. I just sat with you, waiting for the moment your life force left you. Three times, it did, completely. But…it always came back, just a bit." Kurama sounded baffled by this, but apparently he didn't like to question miracles. "And now you're here, and I can't believe it. How?"

"I don't know," Hiei said. "But I am, and I don't plan to leave again. Literally. I do not plan to leave this bed ever again," he added, and at the serious look on his face everyone laughed. It was a true relief to be able to laugh again. "Seriously, though," Hiei said as they calmed down. "I don't know how I got back—I don't even know where I got back _from_—but I think…that's the way it should be. That way, we can keep believing in miracles…" He blinked several times. "Look at me…honestly…I _hate_ being sentimental."

He felt Kurama's arms tighten around him, and he gave a sigh of contentment. "So, tell me everything that happened during my vacation."

"Well, the whole school's in chaos," Harry reported. "Whatever that thing you conjured was, it caused quite an uproar. The black marks wouldn't come off the floor, so Dumbledore just left it and hung a plaque over it that says, 'Tribute to Hiei Jaganshi, Savior of the Wizarding World.' The whole school is dying to hear your story—they couldn't get one out of any of us. Also, Kurama now ranks second to you in the Hogwarts Hottest Guy Polls, to his vast relief. Anyway, they still have hopes of getting something out of you. Oh, and I hear that someone wants to write a book about you. Every Wizarding newspaper and radio station in every country is begging for an interview with you. Reporters have already approached half the students and teachers. And Snape and Malfoy are in a fury because you get all the glory and they still hate you."

"All within a week?" Hiei asked, dazed.

Harry nodded. "Welcome to my life."

"It's not easy being you, is it?"

Harry laughed. "No, but you're lucky. As soon as you're better you get to fade out of the Wizarding world entirely." His voice was suddenly a bit rough and tight.

"Hey," Kurama said quietly. "Don't look like that…"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. It's hard not to be jealous of you, is all."

Hiei smiled and closed his eyes, relaxing fully against his lover. "I used to be jealous of them, too." _And I hope I never have to leave them again._

* * *

_Author's Note: Sorry it took so long again, guys! But I had a biography on Frederick Douglass to write, worth a hundred points each in two different classes, and the last two weeks were MAP weeks, too, so I just couldn't seem to find the time to sit down and type!_

* * *

**Reviewers' comments**:

**KyoHanna**: Well, believing seems to have worked…my muses got soooo mad at me for killing Hiei. It was quite chaotic, you know…so I couldn't leave him dead! Thanks for the review!

**Jessica**: There! More! Yay! Thanks for the review!

**shiorifoxiesmom**: Thanks for the review! And of course I didn't leave Hiei dead! I never can…I tried, once…it hurt…my Kurama muse jabbed the thorns on his whip in the back of my eyes…

**YokoYoukai**: You no cry now! I update! You no cry! **chibi** You like chapter, yes? You review again, yes? Pwease? And thanks for the review!


	14. Our Little Corner Of The World: Epilogue

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, and I might be able to come to terms with that if I didn't have to say it ALL THE TIME!_

* * *

Epilogue

The Reikai Tentei sneaked out of Hogwarts in the middle of the night two days before the end of term. Hiei insisted on this because, though he was still weak, he did not want to be away from Tokyo any longer than he had to be.

They did not stick around for long goodbyes, because no one really likes to say goodbye. They left this magical place where, for each of them, one life ended and another began—one life in particular—the same way they came to it—quietly, without fuss. The sad, solemn, old face of the headmaster who had allowed them into his school without question, even while knowing it would disrupt the entire school year, was the last thing they saw as they left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But maybe it wasn't the end…maybe, just maybe, it was the beginning, for wizards, demons, and regular people alike.

XXX

"SHUUICHI!" A woman's voice pierced the still morning air of suburban Tokyo, startling a large black dog that had taken the liberty of falling asleep within the shade of the giant oak tree on the yard of the Minamono house.

"KAASAN!"

The dog's ears twitched to catch the answering voice as it sat up, looking politely puzzled in his own dog way. He watched as the redheaded boy standing on the sidewalk dropped the large trunk he carried and ran to meet the black-haired woman practically flying out of the house. She caught him mid-stride and hugged him until he could hardly breathe. He hugged her back, and they both began talking at once.

"You look wonderful, Mother!"

"Your arm!"

"Yes, it's better now."

"I can't believe I let you go away for three months!"

"I can't believe I went!"

"Please tell me you really hurt that guy."

"I didn't. Hiei did."

"Hiei? HIEI!"

Hiei grunted in surprise as he was suddenly swung into the air, away from the street sign he had been leaning against to keep his still-weak knees from giving out, but he was getting used to unexpected hugs, so he didn't struggle for long, and actually hugged Shiori back.

As Shiori released him (after nearly squeezing the very life out of him) she noticed another figure, standing uncertainly at the edge of the yard.

Shiori raised an eyebrow at Kurama. "You always did like to bring home strays. Who's he?"

Kurama smiled and beckoned the person over. "This is one of our hosts from Hogwarts, Harry Potter. He graduated this year and he didn't really have any suitable place to go, so I sort of…well…"

"Come on, spit it out, I'll ground you, yada yada yada, and we'll both forget about the whole scenario by tomorrow," Shiori said, a sparkle in her black eyes.

"I said he could stay with us for a while," Kurama said in a rush.

Shiori's eyes narrowed dangerously, and for the first time since Kurama could remember, she looked angry with him. "You said they could stay…without asking me?"

"Um…yes…but…I thought you'd understand."

Shiori stalked over to Harry, and Kurama and Hiei followed, while the random dog watched with lazy interest.

"Mother, please don't be angry with him. It was my idea…"

"I'm not angry that you invited him to stay!" Shiori said, sounding shocked.

"Y-you aren't?"

"Of course not! I just _can't_ believe you forgot to tell him that people wear _normal_ clothes here…"

Kurama, catching the mischief in her eyes, began to laugh, and so did Shiori. Harry watched nervously. Hiei muttered to him, "You'll understand them in time, but for now, let me translate. You receive a resounding yes."

"Really?" Harry exclaimed, a look of sincere joy on his face. "Thank you!"

"Welcome, then, Harry," Shiori said, sliding deftly into the English custom of speaking. "You speak Japanese?"

Harry shook his head.

"English we will speak, then." Shiori grinned at Harry, and Harry couldn't help but smile back.

Shiori put an arm around Kurama, grabbed one end of his trunk in her hand, lifted the end easily, and said, "I'm starving. I say we go and completely ruin our dinner with junk that will slowly rot our insides. Which, by the way, is very expensive, as I found out when my credit card stopped speaking to me because I exhausted it with my manic-depressive-junk-consuming stage that picked up while you were gone and, as far as I can see, will never ever end."

Kurama laughed. "What a role model…"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't insult the woman who will feed you chocolate!"

"Why didn't she even asked how long I'd be staying?" Harry asked as he and Hiei followed the two inside.

Hiei shrugged. "She doesn't think it matters." At Harry's look, he explained. "You see, Kurama and his mother live in their own universe. It's been just the two of them for so long…before I came along, that is. They live their own way. Once you step into that house…time just sort of ceases to exist for a while." He smiled softly. "I like it that way."

Shiori had, at first, planned on taking Hiei, Kurama, and Harry out to all the best hangouts in Tokyo, but it wasn't long before she, with her mother's intuition, sensed that Hiei was far too tired and weak to do that. Knowing that he'd rather die than admit it, she had suggested that they just stay at home and rent movies. Hiei knew what she was up to instantly, and Shiori knew he knew, but they both pretended to be clueless. They had rented half a dozen movies of every kind, and sat in the living room all day eating popcorn, chips, chocolate and pizza, and then gone to their separate beds.

Now, Hiei and Kurama were lying in Kurama's bed—Hiei still couldn't think of it as _their_ bed or _their_ room—it was just too…_Kurama_—that night. Harry was asleep in the guest room, and Shiori was either sleeping or calling everyone in the phone book to tell them that her son was back home.

"Happy to be home?" Hiei asked quietly. He was in his very favorite position in the world—curled up as close as he could get to his fox, brushing his fingers through the kitsune's hair, stealing a kiss every once in a while.

"Mm…you have no idea…" Kurama murmured lazily, without opening his eyes.

"I think…I do, fox."

Kurama looked up at him, and smiled softly. "Yes, I believe you do."

Hiei smiled back, reached over, and switched on the radio (another device that Shiori had taught him to use.) Music filled the room, a song that made them both smile.

"_Come along with me to my little corner of the world. _

_Dream a little dream in my little corner of the world. _

_You'll soon forget that there's any other place. _

_Tonight, my love, we'll share a sweet embrace _

_And if you care to stay in my little corner of the world _

_We could hide away in my little corner of the world. _

_I always knew that I'd find someone like you _

_So welcome to my little corner of the world. _

_And if you care to stay in our little corner of the world _

_We could hide away in our little corner of the world _

_We always knew that we'd find someone like you _

_So welcome to our little corner of the world."_

XXX

Around the corner, a lone figure watched the house, smiling. "Good luck, you two," he whispered, and he disappeared into the night.

And above them, a young and beautiful ice maiden looked down upon the couple, her cheeks wet with tears even as she smiled her sweet and gentle smile.

* * *

_I can't believe it's over! I cried at the end! I don't want it to be over! wails_

_Thank you so much to all the people who stuck with me all the way through this and some of the people who didn't actually review much but whom I still give credit for bothering at all (and this list goes in no order so it doesn't matter if you're first or last):_

_JJ CJ_

_Siverrain_

_Mayara-chan_

_jus Kita_

_Hatsumi Narita_

_IceDragonKatana_

_Yutaan_

_What2callmyself_

_dquill_

_FireChibi_

_Jessie  
KyoHanna_

_shiorifoxiesmom_

_YokoYoukai_

_MikaSamu_

_Pyro_

_Jessica_

_KoveAiden_

_darknesspirals_

_washio the spacedemon_

_Animefouryou_

_word dreamer 999_

_laly-abaly_

_FluffysBijin05_

_Khory_

_ForeverFornever_

_Lady J_

_Goma Ryu_

_StormAZ_

_chibibunny_

_Koritsune Dragonrider_

_Fuzzy Eared_

_kitty-yasha_

_Amine_

_THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU, AND IF ANY OF YOU WANT TO, YOU CAN AIM ME AT LilFoxSpirit9!_

_And by the way, the only reason I didn't write individual replies to reviews in this chapter is because a) I am already crying enough at ending this series—I grew really attached to it, see—and b) I really wanna go to bed…and cry some more…childish? Maybe. Probably. But that's the way I am. I HATE finishing fics!_


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